Post Doc in Colorectal Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy

Prof Marco Gerlinger’s team investigates which peptide antigens are presented on MHC molecules and can be recognized by T cells in Colorectal Cancer (CRC). Funded through a new CRUK Programme Award, the postdoc will use patient-derived organoids (PDOs) for mass-spectrometry analysis of the Job details Job title Post Doc in Colorectal Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy School/Dept/Institute Centre/Faculty Department of Tumour Biology, Barts Cancer Institute Reports to Prof. Marco Gerlinger Grade and salary Grade 4 (£36,348 - £42,592) depending on skillset of candidate Hours per week Full Time (35 hrs per week) Appointment period 36 months in the first instance, possibility to extend to 6 years Current location John Vane Science Centre, Charterhouse Square Work activity type Research only Queen Mary University of London 4 CRC immunopeptidome, and co-cultures with autologous T cells to reveal which CRCs can be recognized by T cells. T cell receptors (TCRs) that recognize cancer cells will be identified by singlecell sequencing and in vitro and bioinformatics approaches will be used to reveal the specific antigens that are recognized by these tumour-reactive TCRs. Our vision is that the detailed understanding of the antigenicity of CRCs through cutting-edge immunopeptidomics and in vitro immunology assays will inform the development of novel TCR-engineered immunotherapies and of better biomarkers to predict immunotherapy responses. Prof Gerlinger’s Translational Cancer Immunotherapy and Genomics Lab receives funding from CRUK, the ERC, the Barts Charity and the pharmaceutical industry and employs a multidisciplinary team of biologists, bioinformaticians and clinicians at the Barts Cancer Institute and the Barts Health NHS Trust. This research program builds upon our published work showing that the immunopeptidome can be analysed with high sensitivity in PDOs (Newey, JITC 2019), and on innovative PDO and T cell coculture technologies (Gonzalez-Exposito, JITC 2018, Dijkstra, Cell 2018). It will use live-cells from patients enrolled in our clinical trials (e.g. iSCORE, clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT03867799) and from our Living GI Cancer Biobank at the Barts Cancer Institute. We are seeking a Post Doctoral Research Fellow to lead the wet lab components of this research programme. The postholder willwork closely with technicians and bioinformaticians to maximize insights into CRC antigenicity. The ideal candidate has recently completed a PhD and ideally has experience in patient-derived organoid culture or cellular immunology assays. A first author publication is essential to demonstrate experience in taking a project to publication. Bioinformatics or single cell sequencing skills would be beneficial. You will enjoy working as part of a multi-disciplinary team where the appointee will excel in driving the research project, making full use of collaborations within the Barts Cancer Institute, the CRUK City of London Centre, and with external groups at the Ludwig Institute in Lausanne and the Denmark Technical University in Copenhagen. The successful candidate will also be responsible for training and co-supervising of junior group members. Applicants will be supported in fellowship applications.