R-180879: Postdoctoral Fellow - Understanding mechanisms of PRMT biology in the treatment of cancer

Location: The Discvery Centre, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK

Competitive Salary, Bonus & Benefits Package

Do you have expertise in, and passion for, epigenetics and cancer biology? Would you like to apply your knowledge to impact drug discovery projects in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life-changing medicines? Then join the Early Oncology team at AstraZeneca and unlock the power of what science can do.

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-centred biopharmaceutical company focusing on discovering, developing, and commercialising prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than a global leading pharmaceutical company. At AstraZeneca, we're dedicated to being a Great Place to Work and empowering employees to push the boundaries of science and fuel their entrepreneurial spirit.

About our Postdoc Programme

Bring your expertise, apply your knowledge, follow the science, and make a difference. AstraZeneca’s Postdoc Programme is for self-motivated individuals looking to deliver exciting projects in an encouraging, engaging, and innovative environment. You'll work with multidisciplinary scientific teams from a diverse set of backgrounds and a world-class academic mentor specifically aligned to your project. Our postdocs are respected as specialists, encouraged to speak up, and supported to share their research at conferences, publish papers, achieve their goals.

Make a more meaningful impact in your career, with greater ownership and accountability to make a contribution whilst making a difference to the lives of our patients!

This is a 3-year programme.

About the Opportunity

This Postdoc position within AstraZeneca’s Bioscience team is a fantastic opportunity for a dedicated scientist who has an interest in working on understanding PRMT biology in the treatment of cancer, including developing innovative ways to enhance therapeutic efficacy.

Epigenetics is one of the scientific platforms AstraZeneca is focusing on to improve the clinical paradigm in oncology. We are investing in technology and combining this with expertise to better understand the role of epigenetics in disease. Ultimately, we hope to identify new ways to overcome cancer by modulating gene expression.

Our successful postdoc will join a dynamic team of epigenetic experts and play an active role in developing novel treatments for cancer patients. They will be part of a science team working on early-stage cancer drug discovery and development as well as with an academic laboratory specialising in the relevant research area. The postdoc will gain experience of working in a collaborative and diverse pharma company.

Project Focus

The primary aim of this project is to understand mechanisms of PRMT5 biology in the treatment of cancer. PRMT5 activity regulates a large number of cellular processes such as splicing, signaling pathways and the DNA damage response. Given the vast regulation imparted by PRMT5 in cells, it has become an importnat anti-cancer target that is the topic of an exciting drug discovery programme.

Our postdoctoral fellow will join the Bioscience department, lead by Dr Josep Forment (Director, Bioscience DDR, Oncology R&D). You will benefit from a supportive community of scientists and from well-established structures and guidance by current and previous postdoctoral fellows within the team.

This is a truly collaborative role, seeing you engage with other functions within AZ. You will also profit from well-established structures and guidance by current and previous postdoctoral fellows in the team. AZ supervisors will be Dr. Jelena Urosevic (Associate Principal Scientist) and Dr. Shaun Moore (Senior Scientist) in the TDE in vitro team. An academic mentorship will be provided by an external expert in the research area.

What You’ll Do

In this role you'll acquire an understanding of the importance of providing mechanistic insights into epigenetic targeted therapy and learn the importance of this in terms of both drug discovery and developing lines of sight for clinical development.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

• Design and conduct in vitro experiments utilising various molecular biology and genome editing methods
• Plan, write, publish, and present high-quality scientific papers
• Work collaboratively with other members of the in vitro and in vivo biology team and be responsible for designing, analysing, interpreting and presenting your data both internally within AZ Oncology and externally to academic audiences.

Qualification, Skills & Experience

Our Postdoc programme is aimed at individuals who are either:

• Within 5-years of obtaining their doctoral degree (PhD, DVM, or MD) - PhD already awarded, or
• Students, soon to obtain doctoral degrees (the PhD must be awarded within 6 months of joining AstraZeneca)

Essential Requirements

• A PhD or equivalent in molecular biology or cancer biology with expertise in epigenetics and/or tumour drivers or a related field
• Expertise in molecular biology techniques including cell culture, molecular cloning, in vitro knockdown (CRISPR, siRNA) and overexpression strategies
• Proven ability to independently design and execute incisive experiments and interpret results
• A strong scientific track-record, as evidenced by published or accepted papers in well recognised peer-reviewed journals, oral and/or poster presentations at scientific meetings
• Fluent in written and spoken English

Desirable Requirements

• Experience in a range of in vitro biochemical, cell biology and pharmacology-related skills that can be applied to oncology research. Examples of these are cell growth/viability assays, immunoblotting, live-cell imaging, flow cytometry, CRISPR cell line models and complementation experiments
• Understanding or even experience of using in vivo mouse models

Reasons to Apply

As a respected specialist, we will empower you to take appropriate risks, lead the project and “run with it”, along with providing you will all the support you need.

The postdoc should aim to gain significant experience from the position eventually leaving having developed important skills that enhance basic science, drug discovery and translational understanding, providing a great platform to either continue in industry or return to academic research with important insights gained from an industrial placement.

Why AstraZeneca

The unique positioning of this postdoc within a pharmaceutical company such as AZ, means that you will be able to access large datasets which are not available in the public domain. Moreover, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that methods and techniques you develop will not only be published but will also be used within AZ after the postdoc position concludes, in real-life projects - and that ultimately the work you do will directly impact patients’ lives!

As a key member of a research group and taking a leading role on a Postdoctoral project, we expect regular attendance - a minimum of 3 days per week on the AstraZeneca campus. For laboratory-based scientists, this may be higher.

Given the unique positioning of our Postdoctoral researchers, you may have an additional opportunity to spend some time with an external academic mentor. In this instance, you may be required to spend some of your time working alongside them at their facility as driven by the research project. Your flexibility to meet the needs of the research and the scope of the project is required, and we also look to support you with flexibility in accordance with our standard work policies.

Next Steps

If your passion is science and you want to be part of a team that makes a bigger impact on patients’ lives, then there’s no better place to be.

This advert will be running from Thursday, 26th October 2023 and, we welcome your application as soon as possible, but ahead of the scheduled closing date of Sunday, 14th January 2024. In the event, that we identify suitable candidates ahead of the scheduled closing date, we reserve the right to withdraw the vacancy earlier than published.

Find Out More

AstraZeneca - Epigenetics: https://www.astrazeneca.com/what-science-can-do/topics/next-generation-therapeutics/advances-epigenetics-oncology.html

AZ’s Postdoc Programme: https://careers.astrazeneca.com/postdocs-astrazeneca

Life at AstraZeneca: https://careers.astrazeneca.com/life-at-astrazeneca

This is what we’re made of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmFx_jr2eFo&t=2s

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We follow all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements.

Date Posted

Closing Date

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.