King's College London

About Us

The School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London is a world-leading centre for translatable methods of diagnosing and treating disease. Hosted within St Thomas’ Hospital, our facilities include pre-clinical and clinical MRI, PET, SPECT scanners, as well as research ultrasound platforms. The Quantitative Ultrasound Imaging and Interventions (QUIIN) laboratory is developing advanced ultrasound techniques for imaging and therapeutic interventions, spanning from focused brain ultrasound for drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier, to super-resolution ultrasound imaging and multi-transducer ultrasound methods.  

About The Role

We are looking for an enthusiastic Research Associate to lead a highly translational pre-clinical project on sonodynamic therapy of paediatric brain tumours.

The successful candidate will have a good understanding of chemical synthesis and experience in using novel therapeutics for hard-to-treat diseases. The post involves preparation of sonosensitizer nanoparticles and their delivery into the brain of paediatric tumour mouse models. Focused ultrasound and circulating microbubbles will be used to non-invasively disrupt the blood-brain barrier in a localised and reversible manner. The candidate will first perform in vitro experiments with diffuse midline glioma (DMG) cells, to establish the efficiency of sonodynamic therapy in patient-derived cancer cell lines. In vivo experiments aiming at non-invasive sonodynamic treatment of DMG in a mouse model will follow successful in vitro implementation.

The post-holder will join an exciting project in the heart of London, funded by Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and LifeArc. The project has a strong translational focus, and its results will be used for the design of future clinical trials in DMG patients, in collaboration with our academic and industrial partners. In addition, the post holder will be involved in imminent clinical trials using focused ultrasound to perform targeted drug delivery in DMG patients. The project will be based in the Department of Surgical & Interventional Engineering, within the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, at King’s College London. In vitro and in vivo experiments will be conducted at St Thomas’ Hospital. Chemical synthesis and characterisation of sonosensitizer nanoparticles will be conducted in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at King’s College London, under the supervision of Prof. Maya Thanou. 

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 18 months after the start date. 

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About You

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

Essential criteria

1. PhD (or near completion) in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering or any related field
2. BSc/MSc degree in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering or related subjects
3. Experience in design and conduct of in vitro experiments
4. Experience in cell culture
5. Experience in chemical synthesis
6. Excellent verbal and written communication skills
7. Excellent track record of peer-reviewed publications and presentations in international conferences

Desirable criteria

1. Experience in testing novel cancer treatments
2. Experience in therapeutic ultrasound
3. Experience in animal experiments

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.

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. 

Further Information

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.

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 person specification section of the job description. 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 between the 13th and 17th of April.  

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearances.