Technician

The successful candidate will join the research teams of Dr Emma Allott and Dr Emma Evergren to support the delivery of a Cancer Research UK funded project entitled ‘Repurposing statins for precision prevention of PTEN-null prostate cancer’. The project seeks to understand mechanisms underpinning the epidemiological association between use of these cholesterol-lowering medications and lower risk of fatal prostate cancer. This will involve culture of prostate cancer cell lines, treatment with statins and/or inducers/inhibitors of the unfolded protein response, and functional assays to evaluate the effects including proliferation, clonogenics, apoptosis, reporter, and imaging assays. It will also involve establishing a patient cohort to examine mechanisms in human tissues.

The prostate cancer research effort in the Patrick G. Johnston Centre for Cancer Research (PGJCCR) is delivered by an experienced team of multidisciplinary researchers with a strong clinical and translational emphasis. This post will sit within a larger collaborative group, the newly formed Prostate Cancer Centre of Excellence (ProEx), housed within the PGJCCR at Queen’s University Belfast.

About the person:

The successful candidate must have, and your application should clearly demonstrate that you meet the following criteria:

• At least HND/HNC, NVQ 4 or equivalent standard in a relevant area.
• At least four years of relevant laboratory experience in molecular biology, including experience with cell culture, molecular techniques (including PCR, Western blot, immunofluorescence) and simple statistics.
• Comprehensive technical knowledge and experience in own scientific or technical specialism which will have been acquired over a number of years, including understanding of relevant technical theory.
• Experience of and ability to understand, conceptualise and interpret the technical requirements of staff, students and other clients.

To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information on our website.

This post is available for 23 months. Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but in particular circumstances may be renewed or made permanent subject to availability of funding.

What we offer:

Beyond a competitive salary, the University offers an attractive benefits package including a holiday entitlement of up to 8.4 weeks a year, pension schemes and development opportunities. We support staff wellbeing with flexible working options, work-life balance initiatives and support for physical and mental health. You can find more detail on all of this and more at https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/HumanResources/pay-reward-and-benefits/

Queen's University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena Swan and have established staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality.