King's College London

THIS VACANCY IS OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

About Us

The Faculty of Life Science & Medicine at King's College London is one of Europe's largest centres for biomedical research and teaching. The School’s academic expertise is globally acclaimed in a wide range of basic and applied sciences, continuing a rich legacy of pioneering King's scientists. Many of the research groups were top rated in the last HEFCE Research Assessment Exercise. The Faculty’s students enjoy unrivalled learning opportunities, supported by strong partnerships with industry and healthcare organisations. At both undergraduate and postgraduate level, students benefit from the School’s first-class facilities and those of its partners, including the world-renowned partner NHS Trusts.

As the academic partner of choice for some of the world’s leading businesses the Faculty of Life Science & Medicine is shaping the future of healthcare through its membership of the government’s Global Medical Excellence Cluster and its award-winning spin out companies.

The Faculty is based at the Guy’s (London Bridge) and Waterloo Campuses. The two campuses are located in close proximity to each other on the vibrant South Bank. The facilities for teaching and research at the Guy’s and Waterloo Campuses have been greatly enhanced since 1998 through a capital investment programme of approximately £200 million, which has provided state-of-the-art laboratories and a high-quality learning environment.

Within the Faculty, research divisions provide the focus for the organisation of research activity while teaching is delivered by discipline-based departments.

The Waterloo Campus provides the home for the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, the Analytical and Environmental Sciences Division, the Diabetes and Nutritional Sciences Division, and the Vascular Biology section of the Cardiovascular Division. Some aspects of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science activity are located on the Guy’s Campus. Teaching is organised by the Departments of Pharmacy & Forensic Science, Nutrition and Dietetics. Specialist facilities include SRIF-funded Genomics and Mass Spectrometry centres, a radioisotope suite, cell culture facilities, a Biological Services Unit, a metabolic unit for human feeding studies and high-quality library and IT provision. There are excellent analytical facilities including ultracentrifuge, NMR spectroscopy, HPLC, GC, GC/NIMS, GC/EIMS, GC/MS-MS, LC/MS-MS, ICP-OES and ICP-mass spectrometry equipment (see also http://www.kcl.ac.uk/ms-facility).

About the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science

From molecules to medicine

The Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (IPS) is concerned with gaining a detailed understanding of the human pathological state and employing this knowledge to discover, design, develop and deliver drugs to the patient with a view to managing disease. It provides the multidisciplinary approach required to contribute to the overall development of pharmacologically active compounds from their earliest stages of conception at the bench through their presentation as medicines, to the analysis of their use within the community. IPS is one of the largest divisions in the health schools and is currently organised in five groups: Pharmaceutical Biophysics, Chemical Biology, Drug Delivery, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and Clinical Practice and Medication Use. There is a vibrant PhD programme with more than 100 students, and a comprehensive suite of postgraduate taught programmes.

In the Research Excellence Framework 2014, based on ‘power’, a factor taking into account the quality of the research output and the number of researchers assessed, King’s College London was ranked first in the UK out of the 83 universities that made returns in Unit of Assessment 3, to which IPS contributed.

The Institute of Pharmaceutical Science has strong links with many of the other research divisions at King’s College London and consequently has developed a critically important central role in the total research effort of the College. Staff have a substantial number of collaborations at a local, national and international level. Following the accreditation of King’s Health Partners, our Academic Health Sciences Centre, IPS joined three NHS trust pharmacy departments (Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts) and the Guys Drugs Research Unit to form the Pharmaceutical Sciences Clinical Academic Group. The aim is to cement the collaboration between staff in the Institute and the NHS Trusts and achieve excellence in service provision, research, and in education and training.

About The Role

We are looking for an enthusiastic Postdoctoral Research Associate to lead a project on ultrasound-mediated brain tumour treatment using drug-loaded liposomes.

The successful candidate will have a good understanding of therapeutic ultrasound, Liposome drug delivery systems, in vivo imaging techniques, such magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF)/luminescence imaging. The candidate should have suitable skills in chemistry and liposome synthesis. The liposomes will be characterised for their size and drug content (HPLC and MS). These will be tested for their ability to deliver drugs into the brain of tumour mouse models and assess the antitumour effect of this therapeutic method. The candidate should have the skills to develop patient derived organoids for orthotopic injection in mice. The candidate should also be responsible for the assembly and maintenance of ultrasound equipment used in the project. Focused Ultrasound and circulating microbubbles will be used to non-invasively disrupt the blood-brain barrier in a localised and reversible manner, followed by targeted drug release through mild hyperthermia. The candidate will use ultrasound and perform in vivo experiments aiming at non-invasive treatment of Glioblastoma.

This is a full time, and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/11/2026.

About You

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

Essential criteria

1. PhD in the development of ultrasound drug treatments.
2. MSc/MRes degree in relevant discipline (Pharmacology, Nanomedicine, Biomedical Engineering)
3. Analytical chemistry techniques (NMR, Mass Spec, Fluorimetry HPLC ). The candidate should be able to demonstrate knowledge of analytical chemistry. In particular the candidate will be asked questions on the HPLC NMR and spectroscopy of drugs and lipids.
4. In vivo tumour models. The candidate should be able to demonstrate knowledge of preparing animal models of tumours.
5. Bio-imaging analysis. The candidate should show evidence that has good knowledge of preclinical bioimaging. Bioluminescence and or PET preclinical imaging experience or knowledge should be demonstrated
6. In vivo ultrasound for therapy. The student should demonstrate experience of ultrasound treatments for cancer therapy.

Desirable criteria

1. Knowledge of brain tumour therapy discovery and development.
2. Knowledge of focused ultrasound for brain tumour clinical trials.
3. Knowledge of brain ultrasound principles.
4. Skills of networking and Commercialisation
5. Knowledge of product development and regulation steps. 

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 page. 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.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

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 in September