Scientific Officer / Higher Scientific Officer - In vivo Experimentalist in Precision Oncology

Key Information

Reporting to: Dr Stephen Pettitt

Duration of Contract: Fixed Term for 12 months in the first instance 

Hours per week: 35 hours per week (Full Time) 

This role will be appointed at either SO or HSO role, depending on the skills and experience of the successful candidate.  SO roles are not currently eligible for sponsorship so a candidate appointed at SO level is required to have the right to work in the UK without sponsorship.  HSO roles are currently eligible for sponsorship.   

Job Details

We are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic, Scientific Officer (SO) or Higher Scientific Officer (HSO) (depending on skills and experience) with experience in in- vivo assays to join the joint Lord & Tutt Precision Oncology laboratory. The main responsibility of this position is to conduct in vivo experiments aimed at optimizing vaccination and other approaches for treating homologous recombination defective cancers.

You will use new in-house developed, state-of-the-art, syngeneic genetically engineered murine tumour models of homologous breast cancer to help with the development of vaccines that target mechanisms of platinum salt and PARP inhibitor resistance (see Pettitt et al Cancer Discov. 2020 Oct;10(10):1475-1488 and Harvey-Jones et al Ann Oncol. 2024 Apr;35(4):364-380).

About you

The successful candidate must have:

• An appropriate degree
• A current Home Office License, including modules A-C (modules 1-4)

Department/Directorate Information

The Precision Oncology Group led by Professors Chris Lord and Andrew Tutt is a multidisciplinary team of cell biologists, geneticists, biochemists, in vivo specialists, bioinformaticians and oncologists. Together we aim to understanding how to exploit the molecular changes that occur in tumours to develop new treatments for cancer or to improve existing treatments. With both UK and international collaborators, we identified the synthetic lethal interaction between BRCA-tumour suppressor genes and PARP inhibitors (Nature 2005), observations that transformed the treatment of breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers. In recent years, we have focused on improving the treatment of homologous recombination defective and other cancers by understanding how drug resistance emerges and how this might be targeted. The impact of our work is demonstrated by the number of completed and on-going clinical trials in cancer (some of which we have led) that are based upon synthetic lethal interactions our group identified as well as the number of trials assessing biomarkers of cancer drug sensitivity/resistance that we identified.

The Precision Oncology Group is part of the Division of Breast Cancer Research.  The Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre, within the Division of Breast Cancer Research at The Institute of Cancer Research began 25 years ago and was the first centre in the UK entirely devoted to breast cancer research. Our goal is to advance research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. It is located in state-of-the-art laboratory space, with excellent core facilities and is funded through a long-term renewable programme grant from Breast Cancer Now.

What we offer

• A dynamic and supportive research environment
• Access to state-of-the-art facilities and professional development opportunities
• Collaboration with leading researchers in the field
• Competitive salary and pension

We encourage all applicants to access the job pack attached for more detailed information regarding this role.