Research Associate in Synthetic Chemistry and Radiochemistry

Job description
Job summary

This role is to provide specialist expertise as a chemist and to perform radiopharmaceutics research within a multidisciplinary EPSRC-funded Programme: Next Generation Radiochemistry for Molecular Imaging with Radionuclides (MITHRAS), based at Imperial College London, King’s College London and the University of Southampton.

The team includes specialists in radionuclide production, nanodrug and cell therapy researchers, organic and inorganic chemists and radiochemists, and molecular imaging biologists, and will be embedded within a wider collaborative network comprising the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College, the Department of Imaging Chemistry and Biology Dept and the School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering at King’s, and a network of major internal and external collaborations with other major London universities and hospitals. The aim of the programme is to develop new chemistry for fast, accessible synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals, and translate this into clinically translatable products for imaging and radionuclide therapy.

You will have the specific role of developing new radiometal chemistry i.e. designing organic ligands and inorganic coordination chemistry for a range of new and existing radiometals that will be subjected to preclinical evaluation.  You will be based within the Nick Long research group (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/n.long ) in the Department of Chemistry, Imperial College White City Campus, alongside frequent collaborative visits to St. Thomas’ Hospital, and the research group of Dr. Michelle Ma (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/dr-michelle-ma ).

Duties and responsibilities

We are looking for someone with a range of synthetic chemistry (inorganic and organic) and ideally, radiochemistry skills or experience in imaging sciences.  This role will encompass varied responsibilities, including work on a wide range of collaborative projects.  You will develop new chemistry and chelators and use them to develop radiometal-based radiopharmaceuticals including complexes and bioconjugates, incorporating a range of different radiometals. In addition, you will perform preclinical research in radiopharmaceutics, ideally including in vitro and in vivo biological studies and preclinical molecular imaging (mainly PET, SPECT, CT, but also potentially optical and MR). This work will involve collaborations with research groups across Imperial and King’s to drive the development and translation of radionuclide-based molecular imaging and therapy agents.

Essential requirements

• Hold a PhD (or equivalent) in synthetic imaging chemistry or a closely related discipline
• Experience in synthetic organic and inorganic chemistry.
• Experience in imaging chemistry.
• Experience in metal coordination chemistry and chelator design.
• Experience of one or more chemical/biological aspects of molecular imaging (e.g. chemistry, radiochemistry, molecular biology, cancer biology etc.)
• Knowledge of research methods.
• Practical experience within a research environment and publication in relevant and refereed journals.
• Computer literate with a good knowledge of different computer programs with experience in data presentation and statistical analyses.

Desirable requirements:

• Experience in methods for radiochemistry, synthesis and handling of biological and radioactive materials, especially metallic radionuclides and radioiodine.
• Experience in handling and safety of radionuclides including gamma, alpha, beta and positron emitters at medical diagnostic and therapeutic activities.
• Experience of biomolecule labelling methods, use of bifunctional chelators, in vitro and in vivo testing of radiopharmaceuticals, cell labelling, using a variety of radionuclides.

Further information

This is a full time, fixed term position for two years. You will be based at White City Campus, with collaborative visits to St. Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College London.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £38,194 – £41,388 per annum.

Should you require any further details on the role please contact: Professor Nicholas Long (n.long@imperial.ac.uk )

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA),which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level.http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research / 

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