The role
We are looking for a scientist with deep expertise in ECM biology and disease-relevant experimental models. The successful candidate will investigate the mechanisms responsible for ECM remodelling in fibrosis and cancer, including ECM deposition and assembly, post-translational modification, and degradation, and translate these insights into target discovery and validation strategies.
A major focus of the role will be the development and application of tissue-derived and ECM-based models of fibrosis and cancer, including precision-cut tissue slices, primary tissue-derived ECM systems, decellularised matrices and complex 3D cellular models, for target validation, mechanistic studies and therapeutic testing.
The successful candidate will work across internal programmes and partnership workstreams, applying tissue-based models alongside cellular, biochemical, molecular biology, imaging and proteomic approaches to understand ECM biology, validate therapeutic targets and evaluate novel therapeutic agents.
What you'll do:
- Drive experimental studies investigating ECM remodelling mechanisms in fibrosis and cancer, including matrix deposition, post-translational modification, proteolytic degradation and generation of biologically active ECM products
- Develop, optimise and implement translational tissue-derived models of fibrosis and cancer, including precision-cut tissue slices and other ex vivo primary human tissue systems, for mechanistic studies, target validation and therapeutic testing
- Develop and optimise ECM-derived and ECM-based 3D disease models, including decellularised tissue matrices, tissue-derived ECM preparations and relevant primary-cell co-cultures
- Establish robust and reproducible functional readouts capturing disease-relevant ECM remodelling, stromal-cell phenotypes and therapeutic responses for target discovery workflows
- Support proteomic and peptidomic approaches using primary tissues, ECM preparations and disease models to characterise ECM remodelling and enable target discovery and validation
- Collaborate with computational and data-science teams to integrate experimental findings with large-scale omics and screening datasets, identify mechanistic and therapeutic hypotheses, and refine functional screening strategies
- Analyse and critically interpret experimental data, maintain high-quality records, and communicate findings through reports and presentations