King's College London

About us

King’s College London is an internationally renowned university delivering exceptional education and world-leading research. The university is dedicated to driving positive and sustainable change in society and realising our vision of making the world a better place.  Through its commitment to exceptional education, impactful research and genuine service to society, King’s College London is creating positive change in its communities, both in London and on the world stage. The Strategic Vision 2029 looks forward to King’s College London’s 200th anniversary in 2029 and sets out ambitious plans in five key areas:

• Educating the next generation of change-makers
• Challenging ideas and driving change through research
• Giving back to society through meaningful service
• Working with our local communities in London
• Fostering global citizens with an international perspective

About the role

A post-doctoral research associate is sought to work within the autoimmune skin disease group led by Dr Thomas Tull and based within St John’s Institute of Dermatology at Guy’s Hospital Campus.

The position is funded by a Wellcome Trust Early Career Award Fellowship grant and the proposed schedule of work will be performed in close collaboration with Professor Sophia Karagiannis’ group. An ambitious programme of work is planned and the position will therefore suit a highly-motivated and focused team player, with strong communication and collaborative skills.

This project will investigate pathogenic B cell responses and aims to identify therapeutic targets in immunobullous skin disease with wider application to other IgG4 mediated autoimmune diseases.

Flow and mass cytometry will be used to deeply phenotype antigen specific B cells and antibody secreting cells in blood and skin from patients with pemphigus vulgaris. Single cell RNA sequencing will then be performed on antigen specific cells using the 10x genomics platform.  This will yield large datasets and the postholder will perform computational analyses of single cell genomic and mass cytometry data. An analysis of B cell clones will also be performed.

Antibody specificity and pathogenicity of B cell clones will then be tested by PIPE cloning and ELISA. Immunohistochemistry will be used to validate the expression of disease associated targets within the skin. In vitro cell culture and cell stimulation assays will also be used to validate disease associated pathways.

The postholder will assist in project management, help with supervision of PhD students and junior staff, contribute to writing of reports, grant applications, new patent applications, writing up, submission, and revision of manuscripts for publication in appropriate scientific journals. Research findings will need to be presented at internal and external scientific meetings.

The role requires effective work in collaboration with the other researchers appointed in the programme to specific deliverables and to strict deadlines. The postholder must interact effectively with external commercial and academic partners to present data on a weekly basis and additionally when required.

The postholder will be required to record, analyse and write up the results of experiments, to present your work in laboratory meetings and to external collaborators, prepare reports for other partners and contribute to preparation of manuscripts, grant applications and new patent applications as required

This is full-time post and you will be offered an a fixed term contract until 1st November 2027.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD awarded in Immunology, Biological Sciences, Molecular Biology, Cancer Immunology*
2. BSc in Molecular Biology, Immunology, Biophysics, Biochemistry or related subject
3. Trained to use multiparameter flow cytometry
4. Trained to isolate and purify lymphocytes from blood and by tissue digest
5. Experience of cell culture and in vitro cell stimulation assays
6. Organised, highly motivated, focused towards high quality deliverables and able to meet strict deadlines. Excellent team player able to work as part of an interdisciplinary team, and ability to take initiative in problem solving and working independently

*Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6. 

Desirable criteria

1. Mass cytometry including data analysis
2. Single cell RNA sequencing using the 10x genomics platform including data analysis
3. Immunohistochemistry
4. Single cell PCR
5. Bioinformatics including the detection and analysis of B cell clonal data

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

Interviews are due to be held on 8th October.

We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearances.