Research Fellow [LKCMedicine]

The Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) trains doctors who put patients at the centre of their exemplary care. The School, which offers both undergraduate and graduate programmes, is named after local philanthropist Tan Sri Dato Lee Kong Chian. Established in 2010 by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in partnership with Imperial College London, LKCMedicine aims to be a model for innovative medical education and a centre for transformative research. The School’s primary clinical partner is the National Healthcare Group, a leader in public healthcare recognised for the quality of its medical expertise, facilities and teaching. The School is transitioning to an NTU medical school ahead of the 2028 successful conclusion of the NTU-Imperial partnership to set up a Joint Medical School. In August 2024, we welcomed our first intake of the NTU MBBS programme, that has been recently enhanced to include themes like precision medicine and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare, with an expanded scope in the medical humanities. Graduates from the five-year undergraduate medical degree programme will have a strong understanding of the scientific basis of medicine, with an emphasis on technology, data science and the humanities.

The Pavesi Lab at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), Nanyang Technological University, develops advanced human microphysiological systems (MPS) and vascularized organoid platforms to model solid-tumour biology and therapy response. This position will support a project to develop and validate a colon cancer model, a kit-ready vascularized patient-derived organoid platform enabling intravascular dosing, real-time imaging, and downstream tissue retrieval for flow cytometry and single-cell/spatial profiling. The Lab works at the interface of bioengineering and translational cancer biology, with a focus on standardizing workflows (SOPs and QC criteria) to enable robust cross-sample comparisons and future scale-out.

We are looking for a Research Fellow (Vascularized Organoids & Microphysiological Systems) to lead the day-to-day execution of a platform development project focused on patient-derived colorectal cancer organoid culture integrated with perfused microvascular networks. The role will focus on optimizing and standardizing vascularized organoid workflows, executing drug-response and combination-therapy assays, coordinating single-cell and spatial profiling readouts, and delivering validated SOPs/QC metrics and project milestones.

Key Responsibilities:

• Establish, maintain, and quality-control patient-derived colorectal cancer organoids (PDOs), including expansion, organoid formation, and experimental scheduling.
• Set up and optimize vascularized organoid cultures.
• Execute intravascular dosing assays (e.g., 5-FU and rational combinations), including experimental design, controls, replicate planning, and documentation.
• Perform and/or coordinate readouts including live/dead imaging, confocal microscopy quantification, and sample retrieval for downstream analyses.
• Conduct tissue dissociation and immune/phenotypic profiling workflows as needed (e.g., flow cytometry, immunofluorescence marker validation, basic biomarker assays).
• Coordinate external core services and pipelines for single-cell RNA-seq (and, where applicable, spatial profiling), including sample preparation, submission logistics, and data organization.
• Perform first-pass data handling and interpretation (with lab bioinformatics support), including QC tracking, summary plots, and integration of multimodal results into clear conclusions.
• Manage project operations: procurement of consumables, inventory tracking, coordination with collaborators/industry partners where relevant, and monthly progress reporting to the PI.
• Contribute to outputs: figures, internal reports, conference abstracts, manuscripts, and invention/patent-supporting documentation when appropriate.

Required educational qualification, experience, skills and competencies:

• PhD in Bioengineering, Biomedical Engineering, Cell/Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Immunology, Cancer Biology, or a closely related discipline.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience with 3D culture systems, preferably patient-derived organoids/tumoroids and/or primary cell co-cultures.
• Experience with one or more of the following: microfluidics or organ-on-chip systems, perfusable/vascular co-culture models, ECM hydrogel handling (e.g., collagen/fibrin), confocal microscopy, image quantification, flow cytometry.
• Familiarity with sample preparation and coordination for single-cell workflows (e.g., viability handling, dissociation, logistics with sequencing cores); basic literacy in interpreting scRNA-seq outputs is an advantage.
• Strong organizational skills, meticulous record-keeping, and ability to execute under project timelines; ability to work independently while coordinating with a multidisciplinary team.
• Good written and oral communication skills for reporting progress, documenting SOPs/QC, and contributing to manuscripts/presentations.

Hiring Institution: LKC