Application pack
PHD IN MULTIMODALITY IMAGING OF ELEVATED REACTIVE
OXYGEN SPECIES IN DISEASES
DIVISION OF IMAGING SCIENCES AND BIOENGINEERING
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Contents
 Explanatory notes, including application procedure.
 Further particulars, including:
• Information about King’s College London, and the post;
• post description;
• Person specification;
• Summary of the terms and conditions of service.
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Explanatory notes
Please read carefully before completing the application form
Thank you for your enquiry regarding a PhD post at King’s College London. Enclosed is a set of
further particulars for this post. These comprise: a job description and person specification; general
information about the College, School and Department; as well as the main terms and conditions of
the post.
Application procedure
Should you wish to apply for this position, please send the following:
 a copy of a short statement setting out your reasons for applying for the post and highlighting the
particular skill and experience which you feel you would bring to the role
 a copy of a current curriculum vitae, which should include inter alia:
• your full name with title
• details of your present post with date of appointment
• education
- degrees (subject, class, institution, date of award)
- other academic/professional qualifications (subject, level, institution, date of award)
- distinctions other than degrees
• membership of professional and learned societies
• research experience
• publications
To email: ran.yan@kcl.ac.uk
Applications should be made electronically in Word or PDF format.
Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Ran Yan on: ran.yan@kcl.ac.uk
Please advise your referees that they may be contacted and asked to provide a reference at short
notice.
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Further particulars
The College
King’s College London is one of the top 30 universities in the world (2011/2012 QS international
world rankings), the Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11' and the fourth oldest in England.
A research-led university based in the heart of London, it has nearly 23,500 students (of whom nearly
9,000 are graduate students) from 150 countries and approximately 6,000 employees.
King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In
the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the
top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the
top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the
top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £525
million.
There are nine Schools of Study:
 Arts & Humanities
 Biomedical Sciences
 Dental Institute
 Institute of Psychiatry
 The Dickson Poon School of Law
 Medicine
 Natural & Mathematical Sciences
 Florence Nightingale School of Nursing & Midwifery
 Social Science & Public Policy
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a
wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences
including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped
modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development
of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare
professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.
King's College London, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT), King's College
Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCH) and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
(SLaM) are part of the King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre, a pioneering global
collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most
successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental
health services. Accredited by the Department of Health in 2009, King’s Health Partners (KHP) is one
of five academic health science centres in the UK. The four sovereign partner organisations within
KHP are committed to working cooperatively to create an internationally recognised centre of
excellence which draws upon academic expertise in medical science, basic science, social science,
law and humanities and brings together world leading research, education and clinical training and
practice within an integrated environment. KHP hosts two National Institute for Health Research
(NIHR) funded Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) and a NIHR funded Biomedical Research Unit
in Dementia through local KCL-GSTT and KCL-SLaM partnerships respectively. These NIHR centres
and unit are specifically focused on enhancing the NHS clinical research environment, in order to
accelerate the pace of translation of basic discovery science into experimental medicine and early
phase clinical research and thus speed up the delivery of new treatments and diagnostics for patient
benefit. For more information about King’s Health Partners, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.
The School of Medicine
The King's College London School of Medicine is one of the largest medical research and teaching centres in
Europe, with 700 staff and 2500 undergraduate and graduate students. Around 360 doctors a year graduate
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from the school. The school works in partnership with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s
College Healthcare NHS Trust with the joint aims of excellence in research and training tomorrow’s doctors.
For this academic year the School received around 5,800 applications for 410 places, making King’s the
number one choice for undergraduate medicine in the UK. With five entry routes to medicine, the School has a
diverse undergraduate population. The School is in its fourth year of offering the flagship Extended Medical
Degree programme, the UK’s first widening access to medicine programme, and in 2004, the School admitted
the first graduate students to the new fast-track MBBS programme.
The Division of Imaging Sciences
The Division of Imaging Sciences (www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/medicine/research/imaging) is an interdisciplinary
division within KCL School of Medicine dedicated to the development, clinical translation, and clinical
application of medical imaging technologies, including PET, SPECT, MR, CT and other imaging modalities. It
consists of an academic research core connected to the clinical imaging facilities of KCL and the Trust
(Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, PET Imaging Centre and Nuclear Medicine). The Divisional staff and students
comprise physicists, chemists, biologists, engineers, mathematicians and clinicians working together in a
highly cross-disciplinary way. The Division is highly pro-active in developing collaborations with other
Departments and Divisions, especially the Cancer Studies Division, the Cardiovascular Division and the
Institute of Psychiatry, both in basic sciences and clinical sciences, to widen the utility of imaging for maximum
patient benefit and innovation.
The academic team in the Division, led by Professor Reza Razavi, consists of a team of academic staff
working in a wide range of imaging related disciplines from basic sciences (PET & MR Physics; image
processing and computational modelling; Chemistry; Biology) through to clinical applications. The total number
of academic staff, researchers and PhD students within the division is currently over 200 and is planned to
grow over the next several years. The Division has particular strengths in MR and PET imaging, both in clinical
and basic science. There are state of the art 1.5T XMR, 3T MRI, 9.4 T experimental NMR/MRI, nanoPET-CT,
nanoSPECT-CT and in–house PET-MRI systems dedicated to research, and extensive radiochemistry
development laboratories. The Division also has two state-of-the-art clinical PET-CT systems which are used
for both clinical and research purposes with a primary focus on cancer. The Division is mainly based in new
office and laboratory space at The Rayne Institute, St Thomas’ campus. The Division is undergoing major
expansion of its PET-related research and development activities following investment both by the College and
by a series of centre and programme grant awards including a £10m Cancer Imaging Centre (see below)) by
Cancer Research UK and EPSRC, and a £10m Medical Engineering Centre by Wellcome Trust and EPSRC,
both with strong PET and nuclear imaging components.
In addition to the broad and expanding imaging research activities, the Division offers a unique portfolio of
masters training programmes including MSc in Radiopharmaceutics and PET Radiochemistry, MSc in Nuclear
Medicine Science, MSc in Medical Engineering and Physics, and MRes in Medical Imaging Sciences. Two
undergraduate degrees run by the division will also be starting shortly.
The PET Imaging Centre
The PET Imaging Centre is part of both Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and the School of
Medicine, King’s College London where it is part of the Division of Imaging Sciences. It is the leading clinical
PET centre in the UK and has a substantial and expanding track record of clinically related research with
collaborators from the Hospital, the Medical School and other institutions. Facilities include a cyclotron and
radiochemistry facility for production of routine clinical and research radiotracers in addition to a scanning
facility with 2 GE PET/CT scanners – a Discovery ST 4 slice CT and a Discovery VCT 64slice CT. Key to the
operation of the centre is a team of specialist staff covering a wide range of disciplines including radiochemists
radiographers, physicists, computer science, administrative and technical staff. Several of these staff hold
academic appointments in the Imaging Sciences Division. Members of the unit are active in many professional
bodies and committees on issues relating to PET scanning and how it is used. The department contributes to
national clinical recommendations on the use of PET/CT as a service, and plays a leading role in the NCRI
Steering Committee on PET Research. The group also co-ordinates the NCRI PET Clinical Trials Network.
Research. The PET centre has many active research programmes involving basic science (instrumentation,
chemistry, data analysis), Tracers produced for clinical research studies include 18F-Fluoride, 18F-Fallypride,
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F-choline, 11C-choline, 11C-methionine, 18F-FLT, 64/61Cu ATSM, 18F-FMISO, 13N-ammonia and 15O-water, as
well as novel radiotracers under development within the Imaging Sciences, standard PET tracers (eg. FDG)
are being utilised for research protocols in cancer staging, radiotherapy planning and response monitoring.
Current sources of research funding include EPSRC, MRC, Wellcome, Cancer Research UK, EU F7, DoH and
BHF. Medical and scientific staff make regular contributions at major international conferences and to leading
journals on imaging related topics.
Teaching. The PET Centre and Nuclear Medicine Dept (see below) support a large number of PhD students,
Clinical Research Fellows and several SpR training posts. Staff contribute to both undergraduate medical
teaching and the Imaging Sciences Division’s unique portfolio of masters training programmes including MSc
in Radiopharmaceutics and PET Radiochemistry, MSc in Nuclear Medicine Science, MSc in Medical
Engineering and Physics, and MRes in Medical Imaging Sciences The Centre also runs regular training
courses for physicians, radiologists and scientists.
Nuclear Medicine Services
The Nuclear Medicine department at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital is one of the largest department in the UK
with a state of the art equipment base and internationally renowned staff.
There are 2 separate sites of nuclear medicine service delivery at St Thomas’ Hospital and Guys Hospital.
The sites are linked by an interhospital bus service running every 15 or 20 minutes throughout the day. There
is a full Radiology Information System (RIS) and Picture Archiving System (PAC system) linking all the
departments and MDM rooms allowing image interpretation from any site. This enables radiology images to be
viewed in the Nuclear Medicine and PET centres. The departments are able to display images at
multidisciplinary team meetings using both PACS and a teleHermes conferencing system.
The Department performs in excess of 12,000 examinations per annum. The department has also an active
osteoporosis unit and unsealed source therapy unit. The proposed development of the Cancer Imaging
Centre will see the therapy facility develop with the introduction of new therapy beds and outpatient facilities.
There is a strong research and teaching ethos in the Nuclear Medicine Group and this will increase as part of
the development of the AHSC and the Comprehensive Cancer Imaging Centre.
There is a strong radionuclide therapy service provided currently. A dedicated thyroid service offers ‘one stop’
provision of therapy for benign thyroid disease. The Thyroid Clinic sees approximately 400 new and 1000
follow up patients each year and is one of the designated clinics in the South East London Cancer Network for
the diagnosis, treatment and follow up of patients with thyroid cancer. Outpatient therapies for lymphoma and
bone pain palliation are undertaken and a dedicated in- patient therapy suite facilitates the treatment of
patients with thyroid cancer and neuroendocrine tumours. The in-patient capacity is due to be doubled to
facilitate compliance with single sex legislation and time lines for secondary treatments in cancer patients.
Excellent medical physics colleagues, a radiopharmaceutical chemistry team, a full time clinical nurse
specialist and a thyroid pathway coordinator are part of the therapy team.
Teaching
The MSc/Diploma and Certificate in Nuclear Medicine is the recognised training programme for trainees in
Nuclear Medicine in the UK. Many NHS Nuclear Medicine staff are involved in the teaching and assessment.
The courses have applicants from across the world.
An annual course in Cross-sectional Anatomy has continued to attract participants from the UK and Europe.
A course for technologists in Myocardial Perfusion Scanning has run for the past five years and continues to
attract good numbers of participants.
Research
The department has a long and prestigious history in nuclear medicine research including myocardial stress
imaging, bone and tumour imaging and radionuclide therapy. Current therapy research includes the NCRI
HiLo study, intratumoural P-32 and the development of new therapy radiopharmaceuticals in conjunction with
radiochemistry and radiopharmacy colleagues. The expansion of radiopharmaceutical chemistry research
activity within the Division of Imaging Sciences is presenting new opportunities to translate novel radionuclide
therapeutics to clinical application and to support clinical radionuclide therapy service development.
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King’s College Business and Joint Clinical Trials Office
King’s College London Business Ltd. is the wholly owned subsidiary company of King’s College responsible
for business development and research support. King’s College London Business Ltd. works with King’s
academics to secure partnership with business and other sectors through diverse mechanisms such as
patenting and licensing, creation of spin-out companies, collaborative and contract research, consultancy and
staff secondments to or from industry. Through its Research Grants & Contracts team, King’s College London
Business Ltd. manages the lifecycle of research funding including support for grant applications and
commercial contract negotiation and the management of income post award. King’s research income for 20045 was in excess of £100m of which £13m was generated from commercial interactions. King’s College London
Business Ltd. promotes and supports enterprise across the College and is a founding partner in both the
London Science Enterprise Centre (Simfonec), the London Centre for Arts and Cultural Enterprise (LCACE)
and the London Technology Network (LTN).
The Joint Clinical Trials Office is a joint initiative between King’s College London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS
Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Trust. It has been set up to provide a single interface for
those wishing to conduct clinical trials within the partner institutions, and to ensure that there are common,
efficient processes for the set up and administration of clinical trials.
Biomedical Research Centre
The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's & St
Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTFT) and King's College London (KCL) is one of five new comprehensive
Biomedical Research Centres in the UK. The Centre has a strong focus on translational research taking
advances in basic medical research out of the laboratory and into the clinical setting, forming a key part of the
Department of Health's new strategy for research and development in the NHS. The GSTFT/KCL Centre was
awarded a total of £45m over 5 years to build on its excellence in translational research and develop
translational research capacity through training and education. The Biomedical Research Centre at
GSTFT/KCL focuses on seven research themes encompassing Asthma & Allergy, Atherosclerosis, Cutaneous
Medicine/Dermatology, Cancer, Immunity and Infection, Oral Health and Transplantation and has cross cutting
disciplines encompassing Genetics, Paediatrics, Imaging Sciences, Stem Cell Research, Cell and Molecular
Biophysics, age-related diseases and health & social care research.
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The Post
The post is for a PhD in the area of development of novel molecular probes for multimodality imaging of the
overproduced reactive oxygen species in cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases funded by
King's-China Scholarship Council PhD Studentship (please use the following links for detailed information for
the scholarship: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/funding/sources/kcsc.aspx). The post holder will carry out the
project under the supervision of Dr Ran Yan. The work will be focused on the in vitro, in vivo biological
evaluation of the novel molecular probes developed in the group using flow cytometry, fluorescent microscopy,
the Langendorff isolated perfused rat heart triple -detector system, and small animal PET imaging. You will
collaborate with a team of translational radiochemists, biologists, physicians and clinicians to identify the
promising imaging agent. The candidate will be required to give presentations on national and international
conferences, write reports detailing scientific progress in accordance with the reporting frameworks required
by the KCL Graduate Schools, establish and document health and safety procedures, write publications and
assist with grant applications. It is desired that the individual has a good understanding of biochemistry,
molecular biology and all aspects of health and safety related to work with radioactive materials. It is
preferable that the candidate has a good understanding of radiopharmaceutical development including small
animal scanning, autoradiography, biodistribution, and metabolite analysis.
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Job description
Post title
PhD in radiopharmaceutical development
Department/Division/Directorate PET Imaging Centre/Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical
Engineering
Responsible for
New PET molecular probe development
Responsible to
Dr Ran Yan
Role purpose
 The post holder will carry out in vitro, in vivo biological evaluation and small animal PET imaging with the
18
F labeled lead compounds.
 The post holder will collaborate with a team of translational radiochemists, biologists, physicians and
clinicians to identify the promising imaging agent.
Role outline - main responsibilities
Key objectives






In vitro evaluation of lead compound library with fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry;
evaluation of the 18F-labelled tracer candidates on the Langendorff isolated perfused rat heart triple detector system;
Metabolic stability test and biodistribution study of 18F-labelled tracer candidates in vivo;
Disease animal modal development including growing carcinoma xenograft, inducing cardiac toxicity in
rat and developing advanced atherosclerotic plaque burden in mice;
Small animal PET imaging
Assisting paper preparation and presenting research results in conferences.
Communication & networking
 Communicate with Dr Ran Yan, pharmacists and clinicians involved in new radiopharmaceuticals;
 To communicate with other scientific and technical staff to solve technical problems in a timely manner.
Service delivery

To carry out research in the development and applications of PET radiopharmaceuticals for imaging
Team work, teaching & learning support
 To be prepared to attend training courses, seminars, conferences and to give talks and seminars as
required.
 To liaise with other KCL and hospital staff including chemists, pharmacists, physicists, technicians, clinicians
and research workers to solve problems and set priorities
Sensory/physical demands & work environment
 To work in molecular biology laboratories, where there are large amounts of chemicals and short/medium
term lived radioisotopes (need to be trained to work with radioactivity);
 To work in compliance to rules and regulations set nationally and locally;
 To work under time constraints and pressure ;
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 To wear protective clothing in certain areas and use personal radiation monitoring devices as appropriate;
 To work in a clean room environment with an isolator glove box under positive pressure - no temperature
control, have to work fully gowned with head gear/footwear;
 Proactive role in safety and radiation protection. Enforce and adhere to rules. Joint responsibility with
physics team on matters relating to radiation protection;
 Risk assessments: Involved and offer advice in risk assessments. Normally done by a team of people.
Implement and enforce issues in risk assessment. Ensure junior and senior staff are in compliance and
understand.
Specific Aspects - indicate frequency D (daily), W (weekly), M (monthly) where applicable:
Intensive Display Screen Equipment work
(eg. data entry or digital microscopy):
D
Direct patient contact involving exposure prone
procedures (EPP):
Heavy manual handling:
D
Direct patient contact, no EPP
Highly repetitive tasks (eg. pipetting or reshelving books):
D
Work with patient specimens (eg. blood or tissue
samples):
Shift work, night work or call-out duties:
Work with GM organisms or biological agents that D
may pose a hazard to human health:
Work involving risk of exposure to
environmental or human pathogens (eg in
waste streams or soils):
D
Hazards which require health surveillance eg.
respiratory sensitisers (allergens, substances
with risk phrase R42, wood dust etc) or loud
noise:
Driving vehicles on College business:
Food handling or preparation:
Work at height (eg. ladders, scaffolds etc)
Work in confined spaces (eg. sump rooms, etc)
Pastoral care
 Required to have sensitivity towards all members of the team and researchers who may also be working
within the department, as well as some of the patients that may approach you for help in the department.
Organisational chart
Of the employing unit to the level of grandparent management level
Razavi (Head of Division)
Gee (Prof PET Chemistry)
Yan (Lecturer in PET Chemistry)
Post holder
Special requirements:
 Information of a confidential nature must be kept strictly confidential and should never be disclosed
either inside or outside work. It should be noted that breach of confidentiality is a serious offence
which may lead to dismissal.
 You may be required to work irregular hours in accordance with the needs of the role.
General
All staff are expected to adhere to King’s policies and procedures.
Disclosure
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This vacancy has been defined as a ‘position of trust’ and is therefore exempt from the Rehabilitation
of Offenders Act (1974). As such, shortlisted candidates will be required to declare full details of any
criminal background, regardless of how old a conviction may be and the successful candidate will be
required to apply for a standard (or enhanced) Disclosure (a criminal records check) from the
Criminal Records Bureau. A criminal record will only be taken into account for recruitment purposes,
where the conviction is relevant to the position being applied for, and where this is the case, will not
necessarily bar candidates from employment. Any decision will depend on the precise nature of the
work and the circumstances and background to the offence(s). The same procedure will be followed
for College staff applying internally for a vacancy. Further information about the Disclosure scheme
can be found at www.direct.gov.uk/crb. Copies of the CRB’s Code of Practice and the College’s
Recruitment Policy for posts requiring Disclosure are available on request.
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Person specification
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Criteria
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HOW IDENTIFIED
AND ASSESSED
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Application
Assessment
Interview
Presentation
References
Education/qualification and training
BSc (80% or a 3.25 GPA on a 4.0 scale) in molecular biology/biochemistry/pharmacy
X
AP
Membership of professional body
x
AP
MSc in pharmacy or molecular biology
X
AP
Language requirement for PhD: 6.5 overall in IELTS; minimum 5.5 in all skills
X
AP
Broad knowledge of pharmacy or molecular biology
X
AP/I
Accurately, record experiments and interpret data
X
AP/I
Knowledge/skills
Knowledge of Ionising Radiation protection regulations
x
AP/I
Knowledge in both PET/SPECT and fluorescent multimodality imaging
x
AP/I
Basic knowledge in medicinal chemistry and drug development
X
AP/I
A deep understanding of radiopharmaceuticals and PET radioisotopes
X
AP/I
Ability to work calmly under pressure
X
I
Excellent verbal & written communication skills
X
AP/I
Good communication skills with client groups
X
AP/I
Able to handle several projects at once and prioritise
X
AP/I
Ability to organise self and others
X
AP/I
Ability to act on personal initiative and take responsibility for own work and ensuring
projects are completed
X
AP/I
Ability to work on own initiative and in a multi-disciplinary team
X
AP/I
Excellent time keeping
X
AP/I
Reliable
X
AP/I
Flexible and able to work with a variety of people
X
I
Flexible approach to hours & duties
X
I
Positive constructive and team-based approach to problem solving
X
Personal characteristics/other requirements
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Summary of terms and conditions of service
Confidentiality
In the course of your work you may have access to personal or confidential information which must
not be disclosed or made available to any other person unless in the performance of your duties or
with specific permission from your Head of School/Department/Division. (In particular if your work
involves the handling of clinical samples and/or patient data, NHS policies for the maintenance of
security and confidentiality of NHS systems and data must be observed). Breaches in confidentiality
may lead to disciplinary action.
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