Scientific Officer – Immunogenomics and Radiotherapy Response
Under the guidance of Dr. Luis Zapata and Prof. Kevin Harrington, we are seeking to recruit a highly motivated Scientific Officer to contribute to an interdisciplinary research programme investigating immunoediting and immune evolution in response to radiotherapy. This project aims to understand how radiotherapy-induced DNA damage shapes tumour antigenicity, immune dynamics, and clinical response, with the ultimate goal of identifying predictive immunogenomic biomarkers and informing combination treatment strategies.
The successful candidate will play a key role in analysing patient-derived multiomic datasets from two major clinical trials, CR07 (rectal cancer) and PREDICT-B (soft tissue sarcoma). The role will involve close integration of genomic, transcriptomic, and immune repertoire data to characterise tumour–immune co-evolution before, during, and after radiotherapy.
About the role
The post holder will contribute to a comprehensive analysis of tumour and blood samples collected longitudinally from patients undergoing neoadjuvant radiotherapy. Responsibilities will include:
1. Processing and analysing whole-exome sequencing (WES) and bulk RNA-seq data from FFPE tumour samples and matched blood-derived germline DNA
2. Characterising tumour immune microenvironment dynamics and immunogenicity during treatment
3. Quantifying immune selection and immunoediting using evolutionary metrics, including immune dN/dS
4. Identifying neoantigens and immune escape mechanisms (e.g. alterations in antigen presentation machinery or HLA loss of heterozygosity)
5. Integrating T-cell receptor repertoire data generated using FUME-TCRseq from FFPE tissue
6. Supporting the interpretation of multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) data to spatially profile immune cell populations
7. Collaborating with clinicians, computational biologists, and experimental researchers to link immunogenomic features with pathological and clinical outcomes
8. Contributing to publications, presentations, and the development of future translational or preclinical studies
About you
The successful candidate must have:
9. A degree (or equivalent experience) in bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, cancer biology, immunology, or a related discipline
10. Experience analysing next-generation sequencing data (WES and/or RNA-seq)
11. Familiarity with somatic variant calling, copy number analysis, or transcriptomic profiling
12. Strong quantitative and analytical skills, with experience in R, Python, or similar scientific programming languages
13. Ability to work independently while contributing effectively within a multidisciplinary team
14. Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail
Desirable experience includes:
15. Knowledge of cancer evolution, immunoediting, or tumour immunology
16. Experience with neoantigen prediction pipelines or immune repertoire analysis
17. Exposure to FFPE-derived sequencing data
18. Interest in translational cancer research and biomarker discovery
Department / Directorate Information
This role is based within the Evolutionary Immunogenomics Lab, which brings together expertise in cancer genomics, evolutionary biology, immunology, and clinical oncology. The team works closely with clinical trial groups and experimental laboratories to translate computational discoveries into biological insight and therapeutic opportunities.
What we offer
19. A dynamic and supportive research environment
20. Access to state-of-the-art computational and experimental facilities
21. Professional development and training opportunities
22. Collaboration with leading researchers in cancer evolution, immunogenomics, and radiotherapy
23. Competitive salary and pension