"Computational Immunologist"

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.

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 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 Core facility at CRUK MI, and the Bioinformatics and Biostatistics team at CRUK NBC 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.

Why choose Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and the CRUK National Biomarker Centre?

The Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute (www.cruk.manchester.ac.uk) and the Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre (https://cruknbc.org/) are world-leading centres in cancer research. Both CRUK MI and CRUK NBC are core funded by Cancer Research UK (www.cancerresearchuk.org), the largest independent cancer research organisation in the world. In spring 2023, we moved into the new Paterson Building, a £150 million flagship purpose-built biomedical research centre directly attached to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust (www.christie.nhs.uk), in South Manchester.

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

About Cancer Inflammation and Immunity Research Group: Please visit our website to view more information: https://www.cruk.manchester.ac.uk/team-member/santiago-zelenay/

How to apply? To apply for this position please visit our website. Closing date: 11:59pm, 31 August 2025. For informal enquiries about this post, please contact Dr Santiago Zelenay: santiago.zelenay@cruk.manchester.ac.uk