Senior Research Assistant

Location
Karachi, Pakistan

Entity
Medical College

Introduction
Aga Khan University chartered in 1983 as Pakistan's first private international university, is committed to the provision of education, research, and health care of international standards relevant to Pakistan and the region. The affiliated Aga Khan University Hospital provides state-of-the-art clinical facilities and well-equipped diagnostic services. The University currently has teaching sites in Pakistan, East Africa, the United Kingdom, and Afghanistan, and is a major component of Aga Khan Development Network.

As an equal opportunity employer, AKU believes in promoting a diverse and inclusive culture and is committed to adopt appropriate standards for safeguarding and promoting a respectful relationship with and between diverse workforce of its faculty, staff, trainees, volunteers, beneficiaries, wider communities, and other stakeholders with whom it works, including children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees/trainees and partners to share this commitment.

Research at AKU-CRM is focused on understanding the biology of diseases and developing economically viable and novel therapies and diagnostic kits. The Centre has an integrated hub and spoke research programme with inter-linked subject areas.​

This project aims to develop a clinically safe and effective CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of B-cell ALL and lymphoma. To accomplish this, the current project focuses on pre-clinical development and evaluation of the therapy, which will serve as a critical foundation for determining the success of the primary objective. The potential CARs will initially be designed using in silico tools, synthesized, evaluated biochemically and in-vitro models followed by a thorough validation in an in vivo mouse model.

This is a grant-funded contractual position.

Responsibilities:
Reporting to the faculty, you will be undertaking supervised research for the project. Some of the areas you will be assigned include:

• conducting wet lab supervised research related to the project
• conducting daily, weekly, and monthly inventory of consumables/reagents required for the team
• participating in weekly project meetings, journal clubs, research in progress meetings, and delivering presentations as directed by the assigned faculty
• assisting with writing manuscripts, annual reports, and others.

Requirements:
You should have:

• a bachelor’s degree in the field of Biological Science or a relevant field. However, MBBS, BDS, or DVM with lab-based research experience will also be considered
• at least one year of wet laboratory work experience in one of the following areas:
  • stem cells including iPSCs and HSCs
  • CAR T cell therapy
  • gene editing
  • hematopoiesis
  • cytogenetics and imaging
  • gene and molecular therapy
  • animal models
• strong organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple tasks assigned by the faculty.
• essential command of Microsoft Office. Knowledge of use and application of statistical and imaging software would be an advantage
• excellent communication skills, including fluency in English speaking and writing.

Comprehensive employment reference checks will be conducted.

Primary Location

Pakistan-Karachi

Other Locations

Pakistan

Organisation

Aga Khan Hospital & Medical College

Employee Status

Contractual

Job Type

Standard

Job Posting

07/09/2026, 11:46:42 AM

Closing Date

13/09/2026, 6:59:00 PM