Scientist – Cellular Immunology
- London
- Permanent
- Full-time
- Actively participate and assist in the development of robust cellular and immunological testing platforms to inform and validate antigen design for therapeutic development.
- Participate and assist in the conceptualisation, design, optimisation and execution of innovative functional assays using primary mouse/human cells and cell lines to assess T cell responses, antigen presentation and efficacy.
- Characterise T cell responses to antigens using techniques such as flow cytometry, intracellular cytokine staining (ICS), cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) assays, and cytokine profiling.
- Cell culture (propagation, isolation, banking and characterisation) of cell lines and primary cells, including processing of immune tissues and PBMC isolation.
- Assess antigen delivery, expression, and processing using DNA and mRNA transfection; support formulation of mRNA-LNP therapies for immunisation studies.
- Collaborate effectively with other functions within the Translational Research team to support their research activities as needed.
- A PhD in T cell biology or cellular immunology; OR a PhD in a relevant biology subject with equivalent T-cell experience gained in academia or industry post-PhD.
- 1-2 years post-graduate experience in an industrial or academic lab setting.
- Background in T cell biology and extensive experience in functional and analytical assays using primary human and/or animal T cells.
- Skilled in handling and culturing T cells (primary and cell lines).
- Experience in in vitro and ex vivo assays to evaluate cellular immune responses, including cytokine secretion, T cell expansion, intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) assays.
- Experience using multi-parameter flow cytometry (including panel design, staining, and data analysis) for immunophenotyping.
- Competent in transfecting cells with plasmid DNA and/or in vitro transcribed (IVT) mRNA.
- Experience with other immune cell types, in particular, dendritic cells and other antigen-presenting cells (including primary, cell lines, IPSC-derived models).
- Experience in TCR and/or MHC engineering.
- Hands-on laboratory experience in testing and developing of biologics or vaccines.
- Experience automating computational analysis workflows for flow cytometry data.
- Experience designing and performing preclinical mouse studies to evaluate T cell responses.
- Experience with the production of mRNA and formulation of mRNA-LNPs.
- Experience with T-cell targeting antigen design and optimisation.
- Proficient in molecular biology methods such as cloning, DNA amplification, and transfection.