When you step into a role, what do you want the purpose of the company you work for to be? How does that align with the individual purpose that motivates your ambition?
As the only independent Medical Research institute in Australia focused on childhood cancer, our purpose is to translate and discover (through world class research), new treatments that will cure cancer and reduce the side effects in children and adolescents.
We save & change lives. At The Children’s Cancer Institute we believe that a life should be long. Cancer cuts life short for hundreds of children every year, before they’ve even had a chance to make their mark. We aim to not only improve their quality of life, but eradicate the cause of their pain.
Choose to be part of a team that will nurture your talent and grow your career, so you too can contribute to this purpose. Together, we can and we will cure all children of cancer. It’s not if. It’s when.
In this position, you will play an important role into generating the best laboratory evidence to ultimately drive clinical translation of results for one of the most difficult-to-treat types of childhood cancer, called sarcoma. The position will include work on in vivo sarcoma patient-derived xenograft models, including tumour implantation, in vivo therapy experiments, post-treatment tumour analysis (eg immunohistochemistry, western blot), and survival/growth analysis. We have a range of promising drugs lined up for in vivo testing, and a very real possibility that if these drugs continue to perform well in our experiments, accelerate clinical translation. It will also involve assisting in the molecular and functional studies of sarcoma cell lines and sarcoma samples, including examining the consequences of mutations/fusions, developing functional genomic screens, test drug responses, examine (phospho)protein signal transduction pathways, and identifying potential drug targeting strategies.
As our Research Assistant your purpose will be to:
Set-up and work with sarcoma patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. This will involve the subcutaneous engraftment of PDXs, monitoring, and treating via oral gavage or IP.
Assist with the development and maintenance of primary sarcoma cell lines
Assist with drug screens and molecular work in the sarcoma cell line models
Assist with general laboratory management including contributing to ordering supplies, maintaining laboratory inventory
Achieve an outstanding level of competence in all aspects of experimental work
Contribute to quality publications
Be involved in professional activities
Collate, organise and present experimental results
Be compliant with OH&S requirements for handling of human samples and according to Institute policies
Abide by privacy legislation, ethics guidelines and the legal requirements for research involving human material
To succeed you will have…
Experience with in vivo mouse models/techniques is highly desirable but not essential, as training can be provided. Handling/restraint, oral gavage, and experience with subcutaneous engraftments is a big plus.
Practical experience in the conduct of molecular biology techniques (such as Western Blot, RT PCR, transfection and FACS) and cell culture techniques
Demonstrated experience in data analyses using Microsoft Excel and GraphPad Prism for basic statistical analysis
Commitment to conducting experiments involving humans, animals & GMOs under strict ethical and regulatory guidelines
Excellent listening, verbal, and written communication skills
Ability to quickly respond to situations as they arise
Excellent attention to detail
Flexible attitude to work and ability to work to deadlines
Ability to maintain confidential information
Ability to work independently and as part of a team as necessary
Experience in sarcoma biology and sarcoma cell lines is an advantage
We will support you to be your best with benefits that include but are not limited to:
Access to our ‘FlexBEST’ program – true flexibility from day 1
Focus on employee wellbeing, including a leading EAP program, and up to 5 gifted wellbeing days off (paid) per year
Investment in leadership development and career advancement opportunities
Join a group of dedicated people in a performance-driven environment to achieve success and discover what it's like to look forward to coming to work every day and make a real difference. A detailed job description and additional information about Children's Cancer Institute can be found on our website at: https://www.ccia.org.au/careers-study . We embrace diversity and encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds and cultures. To apply, please click the 'APPLY' link and forward both your resume AND cover letter (mandatory) clearly addressing the qualifications, experience and skills required.
Note: Applications will be reviewed prior to the closing date; which is dependent on the status of the recruitment process.
Working at Children's Cancer Institute
All staff at Children's Cancer Institute share a passion for our purpose – whether they work in research, fundraising or finance. We provide the best possible environment for our staff to develop and thrive with state-of-the-art facilities and our unwavering goal to put an end to childhood cancer.
For more information on working with us, please contact our HR Team by emailing [email protected]
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