Department: Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute
Salary: £36,677 - £43,152 (Grade 4)
Reference: QMUL13427
Date posted: 05-Mar-2018
Closing date: 19-Mar-2018
Applications are sought for a bioinfomatician to join a comprehensive translational research programme in breast cancer at the Centre for Molecular Oncology, within the world-class Barts Cancer Institute (BCI) at the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. The successful candidate will be responsible for statistical analysis on large-scale breast cancer data. The post will be based in the Centre for Experimental Cancer Medicine as well as the Bioinformatics Unit, Centre of Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, within the Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London.
There is an urgent need for validated biomarkers that can improve clinical management of breast cancer patients and facilitate personalised therapeutic strategies. The current practice of analysing archival tumour tissue is limited by the fact that the molecular characteristics of cancers change significantly over time, mandating re-profiling at various time-points to ensure the available information is representative of the tumour that is being treated. Although repeated tumour biopsies could address this issue, it is not feasible for the majority of patients to have repeat biopsies at several time-points, given their invasive nature. Therefore, the development of non-invasive methods to detect and monitor tumours remains a major clinical challenge. The successful applicant for this post will be analysing methylation resequencing datasets from 2 cohorts of patients; 800 patients with early breast cancer with cell free DNA (extracted from plasma) for over 5 years to determine if monitoring of patients will identify relapse/progression and 330 patients with advanced breast cancer with a follow-up till disease progression. The candidate will be monitoring changes to determine their genetic plasticity.
Essential requirements for this post include a PhD in Bioinformatics/Computational Science or a related discipline and significant experience in statistical analysis on large-scale data, ideally in a life science environment. A demonstrated ability to communicate well, work within a team and maintain good laboratory records are essential. This post requires expertise in scripting languages such as C-shell, Borne-Shell or Perl in a Linux environment. Familiarity with Bioconductor and R statistical environment is highly desiable. A bioinformatics expertise, in microarrays, methylation and next-generation sequencing data analysis in a cancer research context would be an advantage. Experience of additional languages, such as Python, Java or C/C++, is also desirable.
The post is a fulltime, fixed-term position for 2 years. Starting salary will be in the Grade 4 or Grade 5 range £32,405 - £42,431 per annum dependent on experience and inclusive of London Allowance. Benefits include 30 days annual leave, a defined benefit pension scheme and an interest free season ticket loan.
The Barts Cancer Institute requires that applicants invited for interview will need to provide all certificates to confirm their qualifications (specified in the Job Description). Candidates must be able to demonstrate their eligibility to work in the UK in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Where required this may include entry clearance or continued leave to remain under the Points Based Immigration Scheme.
Informal enquiries about this post, including arrangements to visit the Institute/Centre, can be made to Prof Peter Schmid: email p.schmid@qmul.ac.uk or Prof Claude Chelala: +(0)207 882 3570 email c.chelala@qmul.ac.uk
Details about Barts Cancer Institute can be found at www.bci.qmul.ac.uk
Application enquiries can be directed to recruitment@qmul.ac.uk
To apply, please visit the Human Resources website on www.hr.qmul.ac.uk/vacancies and search for reference QMUL13427. The closing date is 19 March 2018 and interviews are likely to be held shortly thereafter.
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