MI/25/17_2 Computational Immunologist

Key Details

Job ID:
MI/25/17_2
Role:
Computational Immunologist
Salary:
£31,000 – £37,000 (dependent upon experience)
Closing date:
31st August 2025

About the role

Immunotherapy has revolutionised survival outcomes for cancer patients across different malignancies but only a minority of patients respond. Biomarkers that can reliably distinguish responders from non-responders, predict treatment-induced toxicities, or rationalise treatment choices are lacking.

To address these clinical unmet needs, the Cancer Inflammation and Immunity group at CRUK Manchester Institute (CRUK MI) led by Santiago Zelenay and the CRUK National Biomarker Centre (CRUK NBC) led by Caroline Dive have established a pioneering patient derived tumour fragment (PDTF) platform building on the ground-breaking work of collaborators at The Netherlands Cancer Institute (Voabil et al. 2021, Nature Medicine, Roelofsen et al. START Protocols, 2023). We are using PDTFs as ex vivo patient avatars to test rational therapeutic approaches within standard of care treatment options to predict efficacy.

We are seeking to recruit a highly motivated immunologist with computational skills to join the patient derived tumour fragment (PDTF) platform team within the context of a government-funded MANIFEST (Multi-omic ANalysis of Immunotherapy Features Evidencing Success and Toxicity) consortium (Lim et al, Cancer Discovery, 2025), a tumor type-agnostic platform to provide deep profiling of patients receiving immunotherapy.

About you

You should have a BSc degree or equivalent in biological sciences or a related subject (or equivalent relevant experience), together with knowledge and significant experience working in immunology research. Experience in computational analysis of multiparametric data, immune profiling approaches along with a strong work ethic, and motivation to succeed are essential.

You will be comfortable working in fast-paced environments and able to adapt to the changing needs of a dynamic research project. You will have and further develop computationally biology skills to undertake comprehensive data analysis and integration of multi-omic datasets generated in the context of the patient derived tumour fragment (PDTF) platform team. You will work together with members of the PDTF team and the Cancer Inflammation and Immunology group, in collaboration with the Computational Biology Support Core facility at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, and the Bioinformatics and Biostatistics team at the Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre and the wide network of scientist, computational biologists and clinicians within the MANIFEST consortium. This is an exciting opportunity to work on a cutting-edge clinically relevant platform learning from, and training, a highly dynamic and collaborative team of PhD students, Clinical Fellows, Postdocs, Scientific Officers and Computational Biologists.

Santiago Zelenay
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Paterson Building Scientific Administration

More information

Santiago Zelenay

Santiago is a Senior Group Leader at the CRUK Manchester Institute where he heads the Cancer Inflammation and Immunity group. His lab focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms that mediate cancer-inhibitory versus tumour-promoting inflammation in order to design new therapies for cancer patients.

Cancer Inflammation and Immunity

Since its conception, the Cancer Inflammation and Immunity group has been investigating the mechanisms underlying natural and therapy-induced tumour immunity. A special focus has been the identification of the instructive signals that, by regulating the balance between tumour-promoting and tumour-suppressive inflammation, favour immune escape and therapy resistance (Figure 1 below). Our overarching hypotheses are that the inflammatory landscape at the tumour bed is a key determinant of patient outcome, and that the pro-tumourigenic properties of classic cancer-related inflammation are largely ascribed to its inhibitory effects on the anti-cancer functions of the immune system.

About CRUK Manchester Institute

Our aim is to understand the fundamental basis of cancer and apply that knowledge to developing new treatment strategies for cancer patients. Our advanced research programmes span a spectrum of cancer research, from the molecular and cellular basis of cancer through to drug discovery, translational research and clinical trials. rnThe Institute has access to outstanding laboratory facilities and exceptional core services, including next generation sequencing, microarrays, confocal microscopy, bioinformatics, histology and mass-spectrometry.

Santiago Zelenay
Cancer Inflammation and Immunity
About CRUK Manchester Institute

How to apply

To apply for this position please complete the online application by clicking the ‘Apply Now’ button to visit our secure job application site. Please ensure you detail the names of two referees and ensure you submit your application before the closing date specified.

Please note this vacancy will close for applications at 11:59pm on the closing date specified.

Contact us for further information

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Why choose Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute?

The Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, an Institute of The University of Manchester, is a world-leading centre for excellence in cancer research. The Institute is core funded by Cancer Research UK (www.cancerresearchuk.org),
the largest independent cancer research organisation in the world.

We are partnered with The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, one of the largest cancer treatment centres in Europe, which is located adjacent to the CRUK MI Manchester Institute in South Manchester. These factors combine to provide an exceptional environment in which to pursue basic, translational and clinical research programmes.

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