Research Fellow - Bioinformatics – Scientist

University College London (UCL)

Cancer is a major strategic area of UCLH, UCL and the Francis Crick Institute, including a strong focus on translational cancer evolution research. The recent consolidation and centralisation of cancer research within the UCLH/UCL axis provides a unique opportunity to link clinical research with patient care in an outstanding environment.

UCL is one of the UK’s premier research and teaching Universities (www.ucl.ac.uk) and has one of the largest Biomedical Faculties in Europe.

The project will focus on exploiting longitudinal sequencing data across the TRACERx and PEACE studies to explore cancer evolution, the importance of the immune microenvironment in driving metastatic disease progression and drug resistance.

Prof. Mariam Jamal-Hanjani is Principal Investigator of the TRACERx study at UCL, and Chief Investigator of the PEACE study. The Jamal-Hanjani Lab is a multi-disciplinary group of passionate and determined individuals who will provide the successful candidate with a stimulating and conducive environment to participate and grow as a scientist. The research in the lab is conducted in close collaboration with local and international scientists and clinicians, across the TRACERx and PEACE consortia and the CRUK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence.

The TRACERx (TRAcking lung Cancer Evolution through therapy (Rx)) study

TRACERx is a UK-wide lung cancer evolution programme which started in 2014 and has to date recruited over 820 patients. It is the first longitudinal cancer genomics study that forms the first national UK consortium focused on deciphering cancer evolution over space and time.

TRACERx is supported by the excellent bioinformatics facilities already available in our Centre together with substantial investment in bioinformatics staff, data storage and computer processing power.

The PEACE (Posthumous Evaluation of Advanced Cancer Environment) study

PEACE is a pan cancer national research autopsy programme in which post-mortem sampling allows access to tissue from all sites of metastasis, and to date has recruited over 400 patients and performed over 280 autopsies. PEACE aims to investigate the biological processes underpinning metastatic disease, including genomic and metabolic drivers of tumour dissemination, and failure of the adaptive immune system. The PEACE (Posthumous Evaluation of Advanced Cancer Environment) research autopsy study provides an unparalleled resource to explore these questions.

The combination of both TRACERx and PEACE with patient co-recruitment has established an unprecedented resource of multi-regional matched primary and metastatic tissue, and therefore facilitates tissue- and blood-based analyses from diagnosis to death.

The position is fixed term for 2 years.

About you

We are seeking a collaborative and self-motivated bioinformatician post-doctoral fellow to work on cancer evolution in the context of the tumour immune microenvironment.

Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Research Assistant Grade 6B, with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis.

Applications should include a CV and a Cover Letter: In the Cover Letter please provide evidence of the essential and desirable criteria in the Person Specification part of the Job Description. (By including a Cover Letter, you can leave blank the 'Why you have applied for this role' field in the application form, which is limited in the number of characters it will allow.)

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/

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