Scientific Officer - Patient Derived Tumour Cultures for Cancer Precision Medicine

Duration: fixed term until 30 April 2027 (in first instance)

About the role:

Immunotherapy is currently a rapidly expanding research area in oncology and profiling of patient samples is essential to predict responses, identify candidate biomarkers and personalise therapy aimed at harnessing the immune system to target the tumour. 

We are seeking a highly motivated Scientific Officer to work within the NBC Translational Immunology Laboratory and the CRUK Manchester Institute Cancer Inflammation and Immunity group. Working with a team of scientists and under the guidance of senior scientists and established protocols, the post holder will work on further developing and exploiting an ex vivo platform to predict and investigate immunotherapy benefit by establishing immune-competent cultures from patientderived tumour fragments and analysing activation of tumour-resident immune cells. The post-holder will analyse various endpoints including T cell activation, cytokine production and cancer cell viability, using techniques such as flow cytometry, cytokine/chemokine measurements and transcriptional profiling. This exceptional opportunity will place the successful candidate at the leading edge of immune-oncology research under the leadership of internationally renowned scientists. We anticipate that our work will inform clinical decision making and national policy decisions in the immune-oncology space. 

About you:

You should be educated to degree level in a Biological Sciences or related subject (or have equivalent relevant experience).   You will have experience in a range of molecular biological techniques and experience with tissue culture including primary cultures. Experience with techniques used for analysis of the immune system, such as flow cytometry, ELISA or T cell phenotyping would be advantageous. 

We seek aspirational colleagues who share our enthusiasm for pushing boundaries in this competitive field. Therefore, a general working knowledge of immunology, strong work ethic, and motivation to succeed are essential. You will be comfortable with out-of-hours work to meet the demands of the project. You will be selfmotivated in acquiring skills necessary to ensure successful project completion. You will be eager to engage in team science and collaborate with colleagues to meet wider project goals. You will be meticulous in keeping records of work done and proactively develop your wider understanding of immune oncology.

Effective communication, good organisational skills and basic computational skills are essential along with experience working in a research laboratory. Previous experience working in a cancer or immunology research setting is desirable.

About the Translational Immunology Team

Please visit our website to view information about Translational Immunology Team:

https://cruknbc.org/research/translational-immunology/  

Why choose Cancer Research UK National  Biomarker Centre and CRUK

Manchester Institute?

The Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre (https://cruknbc.org/) is a leading and highly specialised translational research centre within The University of Manchester (www.manchester.ac.uk), core funded by Cancer Research UK (www.cancerresearchuk.org), the largest independent cancer research organisation in the world.  The CRUK Manchester Institute is an internationally leading centre for basic and translational scientific research in the oncology field. Within CRUK MI the Cancer Inflammation and Immunology Group has contributed major findings to our understanding of cancer immunology including discovery of COX-2 as a driver of tumour immune evasion. 

How to apply?

For any informal enquiries about this post, contact: David Millrine: David.Millrine@cruk.manchester.ac.uk 

or Santiago Zelenay: Santiago.Zelenay@cruk.manchester.ac.uk

Please ensure you detail the names of two referees and ensure you submit your application before Sunday 17^th August 2025.

Please note this vacancy will close for applications at 11:59 pm on the closing date specified.

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