Research Associate

Fairview International School; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A cancer research organization in Malaysia is seeking a Research Associate to conduct pivotal studies in cancer biology. The candidate will design experiments, analyze data, and communicate findings, contributing to the development of targeted therapies for cancers affecting the Asian population. Ideal applicants possess a Master's or Bachelor's degree and relevant experience. This position offers a chance to impact cancer research significantly.

Qualifications

• At least 2 years of relevant experience in cancer biology.
• Experience in presenting scientific data both in spoken and written form.
• Driven by a strong sense of making an impact.

Responsibilities

• Design and execute experiments to meet research milestones.
• Keep comprehensive record of experiment logs and data.
• Communicate experiment procedures and results effectively.

Skills

Molecular and cell biology techniques

Data interpretation and troubleshooting

Scientific data presentation

Strong problem-solving skills

Ability to prioritize workload

Education

Master’s degree or Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Job description

The Translational Cancer Biology Research Unit identifies and investigates the unique and critical genetic, molecular and cellular changes underlying cancer development, particularly in cancers that disproportionately affect Asians. Our work provides insights into disease mechanisms with implications for the development of improved therapies for cancers. This includes integrating large-scale drug response data with gene dependency and multi-omics data to improve our understanding of critical genes that keep the cancer cells alive, as well as uncovering the mechanism of action of drugs with their associated biomarkers. The goal is to identify and prioritize novel targeted therapies for head and neck cancers.

JOB SCOPE

The Research Associate (“RA”) will be responsible for delivering milestones of the research program. Specifically, the RA will be assisting the Head of Research Unit to conduct follow-up studies on genes identified from the CRISPR/Cas9 and high-throughput drug screens, to determine the functional impact of these genes on cell viability and immunomodulation. The RA will work on investigating the mechanism of action of any associated drug(s) as monotherapy and when in combination with other standard of care therapies, especially immunotherapy. This includes using cell and molecular biology techniques such as knock-in/knock-out experiments, cell viability assays, RT-PCR, Western blot, flow cytometry, and the use of 2D and 3d in vitro and in vivo models. Together, these experiments will enable the team to uncover the function of these genes in the context of head and neck cancers and how they affect the action of cancer drugs that could be exploited for therapeutic impact, and further extend its application for other cancer types.

Roles and responsibilities

• To design and execute experiments to help the team meet internal and external milestones of research programs
• To keep comprehensive record of experiment logs and generated raw data
• To be accountable for high-quality data
• To be able to interpret data, troubleshoot and plan for next steps
• To communicate experiment procedures and results effectively
• To keep up-to-date with literature and able to interpret own data and put in context in relation to current literature
• To support the team for general administrative tasks

Qualifications

• Educated to a Master’s degree or Bachelor's degree with at least 2 years of relevant experience in cancer biology
• Experience and skills in molecular and cell biology
• Experience in presenting scientific data both in spoken (conference) or written (publication) form
• Driven by a strong sense of making an impact, with problem-solving skills, including conflict resolution skills
• The ability to prioritise own workload and work to deadlines

We are an independent and non‑profit cancer research organisation based in Malaysia. Funded by donations and research grants, we conduct research in niche cancers often found in our Asian population.

Cancer — the big ‘C’ — continues to be a stigma, only spoken about in hushed whispers; how it’s bad karma, how much it costs, and that nothing could be done.

Confronting this stigma head on, CRM has been reversing this language of cancer, transforming the big ‘C’ to a little ‘c’, and we plan to develop tools backed by good research to ensure that we can truly fight cancer on all fronts.

We believe that we will reverse the grip of cancer in our lives. We want researchers to win the war against cancer by turning it around with new ways of prevention and cure. We want to empower the public through impactful outreach programmes, with the hopes that Malaysians will respond differently to cancer by coming forward for screenings and going through with treatments.

Our driving force is held together by these goals:

• Improving the survival rates of Asian cancer patients, focusing on neglected areas of research.
• Empowering Asians to have the proper screening and treatment.
• Improving survival rates by being more accessible, focusing on providing existing cures to patients rather than sit on inaction and potentially losing lives.
• Making affordable and timely treatments by repurposing drugs, acknowledging the reality that developing new cures are costly and risky.
• Putting Malaysia in the global spotlight for cancer research by collaborating with top scientists around the world,and working to nurture the next generation of Malaysian cancer researchers.