About us
The MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) is a biomedical research institute where scientists and clinicians collaborate to advance the understanding of biology and its application to medicine. LMS is one of three directly funded MRC research institutes and enjoys close links with our partners at Imperial College London and at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
About the role
We encounter thousands of chemicals over a lifetime, and for the overwhelming majority, the biological consequences are unknown. Where there is an effect, it is often recorded in the genome, epigenome, and/or transcriptome of individual cells, as somatic mutation, as altered DNA methylation, or as a shift in which clones expand and how they behave. Conventional testing approaches are too slow, too low-throughput, and often too distant from human biology to close that gap; what is needed is the ability to screen exposures at scale, with readouts that can generate mechanistic hypotheses.
The Tissue Biology Group is a newly established lab at the MRC LMS working at the interface of single-cell genomics, technology development, and computational biology. Understanding how chemicals in our environment cause disease has been constrained by a fundamental lack of tools. We are building spatial single-cell genomics technologies and high-throughput screening platforms to reveal, cell by cell, how exposures remodel tissues and drive disease.
We are looking for a postdoctoral scientist to build our exposure screening capability from the ground up. The work follows one of two strands, and which one you take will depend on your background and interests. The in vitro strand means establishing screening platforms in organoid or primary cell systems, with multiplexed, sequencing-based readouts capable of testing many exposures and doses in parallel. The in vivo strand means establishing novel screening approaches that assay exposures in tissue at a scale conventional study designs cannot reach; you would carry out that animal work yourself, so for this route we are looking for someone who already has hands-on in vivo experience and who either holds a UK Home Office personal licence or is ready to obtain one. You would be bringing that expertise into the group, with support available from colleagues and from the animal facilities across the LMS. The in vitro route does not require a licence. Either way, you will develop the molecular and phenotypic readouts that make these screens informative, including mutational signatures and phenotypic measures such as morphology and transcriptomics, and build the analysis needed to generate mechanistic hypotheses.
This is a method-development post with deliberately broad reach. A successful screening platform will be used by collaborating groups, and it may have a route to commercialisation. Since these readouts report on mechanism rather than on any single chemical, the same platform can be used to study mutagenesis, ageing, cancer, and drug toxicology, whatever the compound class under test. You will generate your own data, analyse it, and drive the project towards publication, supported by the group and by the LMS core facilities in genomics, flow cytometry, light microscopy, metabolomics, whole animal physiology and imaging, and scientific computing.
As a newly established group, we can offer real scope to shape the direction of the project, alongside structured mentoring. We care about the kind of lab we are, not just the science we do. We look for curiosity and creativity, we work collaboratively and with mutual respect, and we want everyone in the group to grow as scientists and as people, with mentorship at every level and active support for training. Members of the group will work with an extensive network of collaborators, be encouraged to present their work at international meetings, and to publish work that others can build on, with methods documented and shared.
About You
You will need a PhD (or equivalent experience) in molecular or cell biology, genomics, toxicology, computational biology, or a related field, and you will be a highly motivated scientist who wants to build methods as well as use them. The first datasets will be the ones you generate, so you should be ready to work at the bench from day one and to analyse your own sequencing data. You should be strong in either experimental work or computational analysis of high-dimensional biological data, with clear evidence of aptitude and appetite for the other, and be able to work in R and/or Python or to demonstrate a commitment to developing capability quickly. You are expected to have one first-author publication in a peer-reviewed journal or a preprint, or a manuscript in preparation for imminent submission.
Experience in screening in any system (high-throughput, arrayed, pooled, CRISPR, or compound screens), organoid or other advanced in vitro culture and new approach methodologies (NAMs), toxicology, exposomics or mutagenesis, next-generation sequencing library preparation, laboratory automation and assay miniaturisation, or analysis of mutational signatures and clonal dynamics is desirable, as is a track record of developing or implementing a new technique in the laboratory. We do not expect anyone to arrive expert in all of these. If you are a bench scientist who wants to learn to analyse your own data, or a computational biologist ready to start generating it, we would like to hear from you. Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to .
What we offer
As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement (30 days plus 2.5 privilege days & 8 bank holidays), family friendly policies (6 months full pay maternity & adoption leave), a range of shopping/travel discounts, access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Health and Wellbeing Support, and a salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. Please follow this link to find out more – Benefits
How to apply
For full details of this post and to complete an online application, visit XXX and upload your CV, names and contacts of two scientific references, along with a cover letter stating why you are applying for this role (providing evidence against the requirements of the job as per the job description and person specification). Applications without a cover letter will not be accepted. Please quote reference number LMS 2958.
*Additional allowances comprise a £1,000 lump sum Settlement Allowance plus a yearly Training Allowance of £850 in the first year, paid in monthly instalments. The Training Allowance increases to £1,300 in year two, and £1,800 in the third year.
This role qualifies for endorsement by UKRI for a UK Global Talent Visa, for which the successful applicant is likely to be eligible to apply. We will also reimburse the cost of visa application (terms and conditions apply).
Please note that applications may be reviewed by both LMS and Imperial staff.
Athena SWAN
In 2017, the Institute received an Athena SWAN Silver Award to recognize its commitment to advancing women’s careers in science and research.
At the LMS there are three working groups which deliver on the action plan developed for the silver application.
Equality, diversity and wellbeing
The MRC LMS is committed to creating equality of opportunity to all members of the organisation, regardless of their background, and promoting diversity and inclusivity. We observe the Medical Research Council’s Equality and Diversity Vision, which sets out the MRC’s commitment to fulfill its obligations as a public body under the Equality Act 2010.
Technician’s Commitment
The LMS is a signatory to the Technician Commitment, a sector-wide initiative led by the Science Council and the Gatsby Foundation which aims to address the particular career challenges faced by technical and scientific support staff.
We provide opportunities to work alongside some of the top medical researchers on the planet, from our state-of-the-art research facilities.