Research Fellow in Leukaemia and Cell Signalling

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is the second most common leukaemia in children and adolescents and the leading cause of childhood leukemic mortality. With the current treatment, based on chemotherapy and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), 65-75% of patients will achieve long-term survival, however too many children with AML will die from direct complications of the harsh treatment or relapse, whereas the survivors suffer unacceptably high rates of long-term morbidity resulting from chemotherapy exposure or sequelae of bone marrow transplantation. As a result, the identification of new targeted therapy and cell therapy to improve overall survival in these children remain an unmet clinical need and one of the goals of Dr Maria Teresa Esposito’s research team. 

Dr Esposito’s team has recently discovered that high level of expression of the gene SET significantly correlate with worse overall survival in adult and paediatric AML. Strikingly, silencing SET abrogates the clonogenic potential of AML cells carrying various cytogenetic abnormalities and decreases the expression of genes belonging to the AML epigenetic signature, that are highly predictive of poor outcomes and relapse. 

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will join a CCLG/Little Princess Trust funded project, to further investigate SET as a dependency and therapeutic target in paediatric AML, by employing an integrated molecular approach encompassing RNA-seq, ChiP-seq and mouse modelling coupled with gene silencing technology.

The post is based in the Faculty of Health and Medical Science, School of Biosciences, Section of Immunology, in collaboration with the section of Oncology. We are internationally renowned for our interdisciplinary research and healthcare for humans and animals; we are 6th in the UK for research power (REF 2021) and ranked in the top 20 in the UK for the quality of our research outputs.

This post is available on a fixed term basis for 12 months.

About you

We are looking for a candidate who has completed or is near to completing a PhD in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology or related areas and has experience of working in the cancer signalling or related fields. You will have expertise in working with mice, flow cytometry, mammalian cell culture and molecular biology techniques. Experience with ChiP and Cut&Run or in leukaemia/ haematopoietic stem cells would be advantageous.

You will have a strong track-record of high-quality peer reviewed research and excellent communication skills with a very high level of written and spoken English. You will be a self-motivated, collaborative, independent thinker with excellent organisational skills needed to drive the project forward, and a genuine passion for research and for contributing to a supportive an inclusive research environment.

What we can offer

In addition to salary, you will receive a generous annual leave entitlement of 25 days holiday plus 7 university closure days and 8 bank holidays (pro rata for part time roles), a generous pension, access to world-class leisure facilities on campus, a range of travel schemes, and supportive family friendly benefits including an excellent on-site nursery.

How to apply

Please apply on the University website and contact:
Dr Maria Teresa Esposito (mariateresa.esposito@surrey.ac.uk) for informal enquiries. 

The University is committed to equality and valuing diversity, and applications are particularly welcomed from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in STEM.

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