Research Assistant/Associate in Liver Cancer Personalised Medicine

Salary: Reserach Assistant - £33,951 to £35,608

            Reserach Associate - £36,636

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 28 April 2026

The Role

We seek an enthusiastic and ambitious researcher to join our team in the Translational and Clinical Research Institute to work on an exciting project.

Liver cancer incidence and mortality is rising. This is attributed to an increase in steatotic liver disease (SLD), or fatty liver disease, associated with a sedentary lifestyle in an aging population, central obesity, type 2 diabetes and alcohol intake. Liver cancer, most commonly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is typically detected at a late stage. Palliative medical therapies are available, but many elderly patients are not fit enough to withstand the side effects of these. In those deemed fit enough, response rates are poor – in the region of just 25% - with many suffering side effects impacting quality of life, without benefit. The poor response rate is not well understood, but immunosuppression in the SLD environment is believed to contribute.  There is an urgent need to characterise the mechanisms of responsiveness and resistance, and to deliver novel combination therapies. However, it is also of paramount importance to develop biomarker strategies to choose the therapy a person with HCC is most likely to respond to, as well as biomarkers that can help us stratify HCC risk in the presence of SLD.  Preventive or early detection strategies, avoiding the need for palliative medical therapies, would help save more lives.

Cancer Research UK funded an observational trial called HUNTER. Clinical data and samples over multiple lines of treatment for more than 1000 patients have been collected. Multiple samples derived datasets have and are being generated, including genomic DNA analysis, serum proteomics, peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)  analysis and RNAseq, as well as whole slide images (WSI) and immunohistochemistry images on an OMERO online repository.  With funding from Cancer Research Horizons, the data is being collated and stored in a ‘secure data environment’ (SDE).  Notably, the last 5 years have witnessed a revolution in spatial biology technologies, enabling the mapping of what is present and where, revealing the cellular organisation and communications governing disease development and progression.  We would like to generate spatial data for incorporation into the HUNTER SDE, for integration with other datasets.

This role will involve maintaining and further developing the datasets, focusing particularly on the creation and annotation of tissue microarrays for H&E, spatial transcriptomics and codex multiplex immunofluorescence, as well as the analyses of datasets within the HUNTER SDE. The Research Associate will have the opportunity to apply bioinformatic analyses to these datasets (e.g. single nucleotide polymorphisms, RNAseq, serum proteome, WSI), incorporating the clinical data, primarily for the identification of biomarkers that predict response to treatment.  The spatial studies will be a key focus, but integration with complimentary blood based datasets will also be pursued - contributing to a mechanistic framework of liver cancer development and progression - informing novel biomarkers for early detection and therapeutic strategies.

You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team including clinicians and non-clinical scientists in the William Leech Building and the Paul O’Gorman Building, within the Newcastle University Centre for Cancer.

You will hold or have submitted a PhD relevant to this position. Detailed knowledge of chronic liver disease and HCC staging and medical therapies is required, as is experience assessing liver biopsy histopathology images and biostatistical analyses of large clinical datasets combined with research datasets. You will be expected to have a very good understanding of the different spatial technologies available, their respective benefits and disadvantages, and have some experience with spatial data analyses.  

This post is a full-time position, initially for 6 months.

For informal enquiries contact: Helen Reeves h.l.reeves@ncl.ac.uk

Find out more about our research here: 

www.livingwithlivercancer.co.uk ,

https://research.ncl.ac.uk/hunter/

Liver Cancer | Centre for Cancer | Newcastle University (ncl.ac.uk)

Staff Profile | Faculty of Medical Sciences | Newcastle University (ncl.ac.uk)

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences and research institutes here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/ and https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles.  These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

Key Accountabilities

Research Assistant

• Contribute to maintenance of the HUNTER REDCap database of clinical trial data for patients receiving treatments for liver cancer.
• Contribute to the delivery of the HUNTER secure research environment in collaboration with Cancer Research Horizons, with responsibility for supporting the creation of the spatial biology dataset, and the integrity of the complimentary data for these cases.  
• Combine bioinformatic analysis and computational modelling for the understanding of liver cancer biomarkers.
• Take responsibility (with appropriate support from NUIT) for safe and secure data storage of large bioinformatic datasets and ultimately deposition in online repositories prior to publication.
• Create and maintain useable and shareable version-controlled code and notebooks in shared repositories to support the project, allow team working and reproducibility.
• Collect, analyse and interpret research data and draw conclusions on the outcomes.
• Co-ordinate own work with that of others, use problem solving to affect the achievement of research objectives and contribute to the planning of the project(s).
• Present information on research progress and outcomes to a Principal Investigator or groups overseeing the research project.
• Write up results from own research activity and provide input into the research project’s dissemination, in whatever form (report, papers, chapters, books).
• Use research resources (including, where required, laboratories, workshops and specialist equipment) as appropriate.

In addition for Research Associate

• Contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of the project.
• Determine appropriate methodologies for research.
• Assess research findings for the need/scope for further investigations.
• Contribute to the writing up of the research and its dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications.
• Present research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline.
• Contribute to grant applications submitted by others and develop own research objectives and proposals for funding.

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Research Assistant

• Experience of analyzing spatial and quantitative relationships in high content multiplex histopathology images.
• Skills and experience of matched designs plus advanced statistical modelling of high-dimensional data, e.g. penalised model selection and machine learning.
• Demonstrable understanding of RNAseq and gene expression analysis.
• Experience/skills handling and securely managing large bioinformatic datasets.
• Experience with managing clinical samples, including those requiring use of a CL3 facility.
• Knowledge of liver cancer staging, treatments & predictive biomarkers relating to cancer
• Experience of analyzing serum proteomic data
• Attention to detail and ability to work at high levels of accuracy
• Ability to present complex information effectively to a range of audiences
• Proven ability to analyse data and write-up results
• Experience of working collaboratively with colleagues
• Excellent IT skills in all major office applications
• The ability to use personal initiative and creativity to solve research problems.

In addition for Research Associate

• Awareness of the research environment
• High level of analytical and problem solving capacity
• Ability to communicate complex information with clarity
• Experience of presentations at conferences and/or in high quality publications

Attributes and Behaviour

• Commitment to working positively as a member of a multi-skilled research team
• Ability to negotiate and prioritise multiple, competing responsibilities and to work to deadlines
• Commitment to continued professional development
• Understanding of and commitment to good practice in equality, inclusion and diversity

Qualifications

• Honours degree with some subject knowledge of liver cancer biology (Research Assistant)
• PhD (or close to completion for appointment at Research Assistant) in liver cancer biology required (Research Assocaite)

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a Gold Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 29245