Research Technician – Immunofluorescence and Tissue Imaging (Full-Time/Part-time)

The Sailem Group is a multidisciplinary research team working to understand cancer biology and improve personalised cancer treatment. Our research brings together experimental, computational and data-driven approaches to study tumour heterogeneity, the tumour microenvironment and treatment response, with the aim of identifying predictive biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets.

A major focus of the group is the development and application of computational and AI approaches to complex biomedical data, including tissue imaging, genomics and clinical data. We are now expanding our experimental capabilities in tissue imaging to enable detailed investigation of the cellular composition and spatial organisation of tumours.

This position is central to developing that experimental capability. The successful candidate will focus primarily on hands-on laboratory research, particularly immunofluorescence, FFPE tissue staining, antibody optimisation and advanced tissue imaging.

The role would therefore particularly suit someone who enjoys experimental science, method development and troubleshooting, and who is motivated by seeing high-quality experimental work contribute to biological discovery and clinically relevant cancer research.

Our research focuses on understanding how the tumour microenvironment influences cancer progression and treatment response, and on identifying potential therapeutic targets. Multiplex tissue imaging will provide an important experimental approach for addressing these questions by revealing the cellular composition and spatial organisation of tumours.

The postholder will drive the experimental development and application of multiplex immunofluorescence, from selecting and optimising antibodies and developing robust multiplex panels through to generating high-quality spatial tissue data. The role provides an opportunity to build specialist expertise in cutting-edge imaging technologies, solve challenging experimental problems, and contribute directly to biological discoveries and clinically relevant research.

Working independently, the postholder will be responsible for experimental optimisation, quality control and troubleshooting. They will work with Dr Sailem on research questions, experimental priorities and interpretation of findings.

The postholder will contribute to scientific discoveries and research outputs arising from this work, including presentations and publications. There may also be opportunities to apply their specialist expertise to collaborative research projects.

Essential criteria:
- BSc/MSc or equivalent experience in biomedical science, biology, immunology, biochemistry or a related discipline.
- Substantial hands-on experience in IF/IHC on FFPE tissue, including tissue handling, staining and fluorescence microscopy/digital pathology.
- Experience in antibody optimisation and validation, including titration, controls, specificity assessment and troubleshooting.
- Ability to work independently and proactively solve experimental problems, including developing, optimising, quality-controlling and troubleshooting complex experimental workflows with minimal supervision.
- Ability to independently manage and prioritise multiple research projects, working effectively with researchers to understand requirements and deliver experimental work.
- Strong laboratory organisation and quality-management skills, including rigorous experimental documentation and management of samples and reagents.

Desirable criteria:
- Experience developing, optimising or implementing multiplex tissue-imaging assays, ideally multiplex immunofluorescence, with experience of Cell DIVE or a comparable highly multiplexed imaging platform.
- Experience in quantitative image analysis of tissue imaging data, including segmentation, marker quantification and/or spatial analysis.
- Experience conducting literature searches and applying published evidence to develop or optimise experimental protocols and antibody panels.
- Experience contributing to scientific publications, including analysis and interpretation of experimental data, preparation of figures and/or manuscript writing.