Postdoctoral Fellow / Senior Postdoctoral Fellow

30 Apr 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Department

Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine

Research Field

Other

Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)

Country

Ireland

Application Deadline

16 May 2024 - 17:00 (Europe/Dublin)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

39

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Title: Postdoctoral Fellow / Senior Postdoctoral Fellow

Department: Department of Anatomy and Regenerative Medicine

Tenure: Up to 2 years specified purpose contract (with the potential to extend)

Location: Hodgkinson Lab, Tissue Engineering Research Group, 123 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin

Reporting to: Dr Tom Hodgkinson

Salary: Aligned with IUA research salary scale, up to a maximum starting salary of PD2 Point 1 (€51,677 per annum) depending on experience depending on experience

Proposed Start Date: August

 

Summary of Post

We are seeking to recruit a postdoctoral/ senior postdoctoral researcher to join the Hodgkinson Lab in the Tissue Engineering Research Group at RCSI. The successful applicant will work primarily on a HRB funded project entitled “Development of a gene activated construct targeting proinflammatory signalling to promote zonal regeneration of osteoarthritic cartilage”

 

Project Brief:  Current treatments fail to effectively repair cartilage and typically only delay the injury associated degeneration that leads to post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PT-OA). In cartilage degeneration, loss of tissue functionality drives local inflammation, which reduces cell anabolic activity and promotes adoption of pathological catabolic and senescent cell phenotypes. This inflammatory signalling, which drastically limits the effectiveness of current cartilage repair strategies and OA treatments, is also a major cause of loss-of-function and pain. This project aims to develop a solution that reduces joint inflammation during healing, restores tissue functionality by promoting anabolic processes and prevents OA progression.

 

In this project, we will investigate the development of responsive expression vectors designed to attenuate damaging inflammatory signalling and promote cartilage regeneration. As part of the multidisciplinary project team, you will combine principles from synthetic biology and genome/ vector engineering to create closed-loop therapeutic gene expression vectors that respond to inflammation in pre-programmed ways. These will be integrated with instructive cartilage zone-mimicking biomaterials, fabricated through cutting-edge 3D printing and electro-writing techniques to create regenerative gene delivery platforms. By combining concepts from gene delivery, synthetic biology, biomaterials and mechanobiology, this research ultimately aims to develop functionalised biomaterials that provide patient-specific therapeutic production and significantly enhance cartilage repair.

 

This role is situated in the Tissue Engineering Research Group and Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research Centre (AMBER) at the RCSI in Dublin and will work closely with several individuals from a multidisciplinary team that includes PIs, postdoctoral researchers, postgraduate students and clinicians from national and international expert collaborators.

Requirements

Research Field

Other

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Knowledge & Experience – (Essential):

• Experience in current molecular and cell biology techniques, including cell transfection, molecular cloning, protein and transcript level analyses etc.
• Experience with gene circuit design and production (synthetic biology) or custom expression vector design.
• Highly familiar with primary cell culture.
• Good knowledge of the field of osteochondral regeneration and osteoarthritis.
• Ability to work successfully and engage with colleagues, collaborators, students, and project stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication & dissemination skills.
• Self-motivated, hard-working, and willing to contribute towards the growing research in the area of stimuli responsive gene delivery systems in cartilage regeneration.

 

Knowledge & Experience (Desirable):

• Experience in generating and working with iPSCs.
• Experience with biomaterial design and biological evaluation of biomaterials.
• Experience with handling patient tissue and osteochondral cell isolation.
• Experience with viral vector manufacture and mammalian cell transduction.
• Experience of preclinical in vivo biomaterial evaluation or gene delivery.

Level

Excellent

Research Field

Other

Additional Information
Benefits

Employee Benefits

RCSI make sure you have the resources you need to thrive by offering a wide range of benefits in areas including time away, finance, community, health, and well-being and insuring your financial future. Below are some additional benefits available to you as an RCSI employee:

 

• Minimum of 20 days annual leave, plus an additional 6.5 Privilege days
• Flexible/hybrid working options for colleagues across many roles
• Additional leave options incl. paid maternity leave, paternity/parental leave, study leave
• 7% Employer pension contribution
• Onsite gym €10 per/mth incl. classes and PT sessions
• Childcare support 20% discount at Giraffe
• Free eye test and annual flu vaccination
• TaxSaver commuter tickets and Bike to Work schemes
• A site sustainability team focusing on the environmental initiatives; Green Campus Initiative
• Competitively priced café and restaurant
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion forums, and network groups
• Employee assistance programme with Spectrum Life
• Learning and Development training programmes incl. LinkedIn Learning for career progression
• Discounted services incl. GP visits, 10% off dental, staff parking, mobile tariffs, Group Scheme discount on numerous brands
• Sports and social club incl. yoga, Pilates, fitness classes, Zumba, running club, social evenings, Summer BBQ
• Ticket Draws for events including; Rugby, Taste of Dublin, Dublin Horse Show, theatre, music & comedy events

 

Application Process

Please apply online no later than 5pm on the closing date with your CV and Covering Letter.

Please apply online at www.rcsi.ie/careers with your covering Letter and CV containing contact details of 2 references no later than 5pm on the closing date.

Informal Enquiries can be directed to Dr Tom Hodgkinson ([email protected] )

 

We are all too aware that imposter syndrome and the confidence gap can sometimes stop fantastic candidates putting themselves forward, so please do submit an application — we’d love to hear from you.

 

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

RCSI

Country

Ireland

City

Dublin

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://my.corehr.com/pls/coreportal_rcsip/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_i…

Contact

City

Dublin

Website

https://my.corehr.com/pls/coreportal_rcsip/erq_jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=040992

Street

121, St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2

E-Mail

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED