AddressAdd Validity: 10/4/2024
Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
No. of positions: 1
Appointing Organisation: Tata Translational Cancer Research Centre
Tata Medical Center, Kolkata
The Tata Medical Center and the Tata Translational Cancer Research Centre
The Tata Medical Center (TMC) is a multispecialty institution for tertiary cancer care based in New
Town, Kolkata. At TMC, clinical and research activities are integrated to provide state-of-the-art care
for patients with cancer. This integration is enabled by the Tata Translational Cancer Research
Centre (TTCRC), the research arm of TMC. TTCRC is within a dedicated academic space and spread
over 3 floors. At TTCRC, a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, scientists, academics and industry
professionals collaborate to develop a systems medicine approach in cancer research. This approach
is focussed on developing innovative, indigenous, cost-effective and equitable strategies to improve
cancer diagnosis; develop treatments that match disease characteristics and are adapted to
treatment response; and, identify prognostic and predictive disease biomarkers. These strategies are
multi-dimensional and involve an iterative pathway that include clinical studies, high-throughput
laboratory investigations, computational strategies to integrate, analyse and model data, hypothesis-
based pre-clinical studies and evidence-based translation of findings to clinical practice. For
additional information on work at TTCRC, visit https://tinyurl.com/TTCRC-systems-medicine and
https://tinyurl.com/TTCRC-childhood-ALL.
The Position and the PReDiCT research group
Applications are invited for the position of PostDoctoral Fellow within Personalised Residual Disease
Tracking in Cancer (PReDiCT) group at TTCRC. PReDiCT group is focussed on tracking minimal
residual disease (MRD) in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) patient and work in an integrated
fashion with the clinical Genomics team at TTCRC. We employ genomic methods to identify patient
specific targets. These targets are then tracked to measure the disease burden in the follow up time
points after each phase of treatment. This work has a great translational impact and helps in clinical
decision making for the patients’ treatment. The group is internationally accredited for the minimal
residual disease detection in childhood ALL by RQ-PCR method. PReDiCT group is dedicated in two
different activities: (a) Prospective MRD monitoring in ALL patients and (b) implementation of NGS
based workflow for MRD monitoring. The group has a dedicated laboratory facility equipped with
Illumina, Sanger and Nanopore sequencers and it facilitates several national and international
collaborative studies. The group is supported by a dedicated clinical research unit and biorepository
unit (TiMBR) at TTCRC.
Roles and Responsibilities of the candidate
The candidate will play a key role in the PReDiCT group and must work very closely with CRU and
TiMBR Team. Primary responsibility will be to maintain good laboratory practices and perform,
Page 1 of 3
oversee the prospective RQ-PCR MRD workflow, evaluate and report the patients on time to CRU
unit. Details of the responsibilities includes:
(a) Identifying patients for RQ-PCR MRD
(b) DNA extraction of patient’s samples and QC for MRD workflow
(c) Tracking MRD for ALL patients highlighted by CRU
(d) Analysis and reporting the MRD results on time
(e) Proper documentation of regular experiments
(f) Taking part in the quality assessment (QA) twice a year organised by Euro MRD consortium
(g) Active participation in data presentations in group meetings and journal club.
(h) Collating data, creating publication standard figures and contributing in manuscripts
preparation.
Minimum required qualifications/experience
(a) PhD (submitted) in Biological Sciences with expertisein Molecular Biology and Genomics
(b) Hands-on experience in basic laboratory protocols and techniques like DNA extraction, quality
check, qPCR, sequencing (Sanger and/or next generation sequencing)
(c) Soft skills: MS Office, Laboratory and clinical data management
(d) Competency in managing large data, data analysis and familiarity with statistical analysis
softwares and GraphPad Prism.
Additional experience
- Exposure in handling patients’ samples
- prior experience (1-2 years) in Sanger Sequencing
- Library preparation on Illumina platform is preferred but not mandatory.
Necessary qualities
(a) Integrity, motivation, enthusiasm, responsibility and reliability
(b) Focus and commitment in carrying out tasks and duties
(c) Critical analytical and problem-solving skills, capable of independent work
(d) Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team
Appointment and reporting
Appointment to the position will initially be for 3 (three) years. The first year is probationary.
Confirmation in the position and progression to year 2 and 3 will be subjected to satisfactory review
of performance through periodic appraisals. The consolidated monthly salary would be
commensurate with qualifications, experience and TTCRC policy. The candidate will be managed by
the group lead and will report to the PReDiCT group lead (Dr. Pritha Dasgupta) at TTCRC.
Enquiries
Page 2 of 3
(a) For further details refer to TMC and TTCRC website, visit www.tmckolkata.com and
https://www.ttcrc.org/
(b) Submission of applications by e-mail (only) to boththe emails mentioned below:
Mr Suvasish Mukherjee
Head, Human Resources
Tata Medical Center, Kolkata 700 160
Email: suvashish.mukherjee@tmckolkata.com
and
Mr. Satadru Dey
Administrative Assistant
Tata Translational Cancer Research Centre
Tata Medical Center, Kolkata 700 160
Email: satadru.dey@ttcrc.tmckolkata.org
Knowledge/ Requirements Essential / Information from
Aptitude/Skills, desirable
a. Integrity, flexibility, a. Essential Application form
1. Disposition / motivated, committed CV
Attitude b. Willing to learn new skills b. Essential Profile
c. Works as part of a team c. Essential Interview References
d. Receptive to new ideas d. Essential
e. Capable of independent e. Essential
work & to an agreed plan
f. Good time management f. Essential
g. Organized, able to prioritize g. Essential
responsibilities
h. Works to high technical and h. Essential
quality standards
2. Education / PhD in Biological Science Essential Interview
Qualifications Application form
CV
3. Experience a. Good laboratory practice a. Essential Application form
b. DNA and RNA technology b. Essential CV
c. Library preparation for c. Desirable Interview & References
sequencing d. Desirable
d. Handling Illumina sequencer
4. Skills and ability a. Critical thinking a. Essential Application form
b. Problem solving skills b. Essential CV
c. Readiness to evaluate, c. Essential Interview
develop and test new d. Desirable References
approaches and strategies
d. Mentoring junior team
members
Page 3 of 3
