Postdoctoral Research Associate

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity for a research associate to join our interdisciplinary team to study mechanisms of early lung fibrosis.

The Hewitt Lab are searching for a motivated and engaged postdoctoral researcher to advance a unique research programme investigating early lung fibrosis at King’s College London. It is anticipated candidates will have a relevant PhD in immunology or respiratory sciences, and have experience with cell culture approaches, advanced microscopy and immunological assays on fresh human tissue samples to phenotype and functionally characterise cell populations. Experience in advanced sequencing and omics analysis is desirable.

This research is unique in studying early fibrotic lung disease as will examine mechanisms which are altered in patients with subclinical illness to understand the molecular mechanisms driving disease.  Follow-up of this cohort and comparison of those with ILA who do and do not progress will facilitate better understanding of causal pathways. This research is vital to the development of new therapeutics which could potentially modify disease trajectory and prevent progression of fibrosis.

The postholder will use a range of state-of-the-art molecular biology, microscopy and cell culture (including 3D culture) techniques to dissect early disease mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic targets for treatment of IPF. Through close links with the Royal Brompton Hospital, there is excellent access to human blood, airway and tissue samples from one of Europe’s largest and most well- characterised ILD cohorts. The postholder will be responsible for tissue processing ad generation of / sorting of primary lung cells from bronchoscopy samples and tissue. Spatial transcriptomics will be used to characterise cellular populations, functional cell states and cell- cell interactions.  Candidates should have an excellent research track record, be committed to the project and keen to work in a multidisciplinary team. Experience in analysing transcriptomic data would be beneficial.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31 December 2027.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• PhD in relevant subject area *
• Background in immunology, cell biology or respiratory sciences
• Prior experience working with patient-derived samples including human biobank curation
• Prior experience in human cell culture, molecular biology, advanced microscopy and bioimage analysis
• Logical and consistent record keeping and data analysis skills 
• Highly motivated with interest in subject area and evidence of generating research outputs with excellent scientific writing and presentation skills 
• Excellent communication skills, and experience working in collaborative and multidisciplinary team environments
• Willingness to mentor and train other team members, to contribute to common group activities and meetings and help as needed   

*  Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6

Desirable criteria

• Prior experience in 3D cell culture
• Prior experience in flow cytometry
• Prior experience in advanced sequencing technologies (bulk and single-cell RNA-seq, spatial transcriptomics) and omics analysis 

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