Imperial College London Postdoctoral Post Vacancy – Apply Online
The Liver Immunology Group is part of the Division of Digestive Diseases in the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction. Our lab includes a close collaboration between scientists and clinicians, and conducts basic, translational, and clinical research.
Job Title: Research Associate in Computational Immunology
Location: Hammersmith Campus – On site only
Purpose of the Post
This postdoctoral position is funded by a UKRI Medical Research Council New Investigator Research Grant (NIRG) awarded to Dr E. Triantafyllou (PI). The post will focus on studying immune dysregulation in liver disease mediated by checkpoint pathways (e.g., PD-1/PD-L axis). The post-doc scientist will be based in the Section of Hepatology and Gastroenterology (Hammersmith Campus) and work alongside the PI, their team, and NIRG collaborators [Drs Prakash Ramachandran (Edinburgh), Mark McPhail (King’s College London) and Pinelopi Manousou (Imperial College London)].
The post holder will use mouse models of liver injury, and human tissue samples, combined with a range of cutting-edge techniques including single-cell RNA-seq, CITE-seq, spatial transcriptomics, tissue multiplex immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and use of novel transgenic mouse lines. We anticipate that combination of these approaches will provide novel insights into the immunobiology of checkpoint pathways e.g., PD-1/PD-L, and will improve our understanding of their immunological control of liver injury/fibrosis, and regulation of immune cell responses in the liver microenvironment.
The ideal candidate will have a good knowledge of immunology and computational background with experience in genomic data analysis, and who is keen to develop their skills and knowledge in the rapidly moving field of liver immunology and multiomics data. The successful applicant is expected to hold excellent communication skills and a genuine enthusiasm for exploring the interface between computational and experimental biology using the above approaches. The successful applicant will be expected to produce high quality original research and use their effective communication skills to disseminate data in written and oral form.
Duties and responsibilities
- Conduct and facilitate a research programme investigating immune dysregulation in liver disease using human samples (e.g., blood, liver), in vitro assays and in vivo
- Plan and carry out wet-lab experiments (e.g., isolation of liver cells, flow cytometry, tissue multiplex imaging, microscopy, multiomics).
- Manage transgenic colonies to ensure sufficient animals are available for experimental work and to minimise animal usage wherever possible.
- Apply and develop established and innovative computational approaches for the analysis of different multiomics datasets (e.g., scRNA-seq/CITE-seq for cell-type identity, ligand-receptor interaction modelling, spatial transcriptomic).
- Work collaboratively with both experimental and computational scientists to address complex and diverse biological problems in the liver immunology field.
- Assist with the data collection/analysis and ensure the validity and reliability of data.
- Keeping comprehensive and up-to-date records of projects and reporting to PI.
- Provide guidance and supervision for student projects and/or instruction of students in the use of equipment, demonstration of techniques, and bioinformatic analysis approaches.
Essential requirements
Research Associate: Hold or be about to obtain a PhD degree in Computational Science, Genetics, Computational Biology, Immunology, Biological Sciences, Precision Medicine, or related discipline.
Research Assistant: Near completion of a PhD degree in Computational Science, Genetics, Computational Biology, Immunology, Biological Sciences, Precision Medicine, or related discipline.
*Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant.
- Lab-based research and lab organisation/management experience
- Tissue and cell harvesting/isolation, flow cytometric analysis, FACS-based purification of cells from human samples and/or in vivo disease models
- Histology, tissue multiplex immunofluorescence, and confocal microscopy
- Molecular biology (e.g., DNA/RNA extraction, qPCR) and transcriptional profiling
Further information
This is a full-time and fixed-term post for 36 months. You will be based at the Hammersmith Campus (East Acton).Commencement period: late summer 2023.
Should you require any further details on the role please contact Dr Evangelos Triantafyllou ([email protected]).
Imperial College London Postdoctoral
