UK DRI Postdoctoral Research Associate

Location: Denmark Hill Campus

Contact details: Dr Marc-David Ruepp. [email protected]

Job description

Dementia is the greatest health challenge of our century. To date there is no way to prevent it or even slow its progression, and there is an urgent need to fill the knowledge gap in our basic understanding of the diseases that cause it.

The UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) (https://ukdri.ac.uk ) is the biggest UK initiative driving forward research to fill this gap.

We are a globally leading multidisciplinary research institute of 850 staff investigating the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders causing dementia, with laboratory-based research groups located at University College London, the University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, Edinburgh University, Imperial College London and King’s College London.

Dementia is the biggest health challenge of our century – currently affecting fifty million people worldwide, projected to triple by 2050, with huge financial, emotional and social impact on people directly affected, their carers, families and the community. Dementia is a symptom of several neurodegenerative disorders, with Alzheimer’s disease accounting for about 60% of cases. To date there is no way to prevent or even slow the rate of progression of neurodegeneration.

Researchers at the U K DRI at King's College London (https://ukdri.ac.uk/centres/kings-college-london ) use innovative approaches to explore the biological mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative diseases. Their goal is to defeat dementia by uncovering vital new knowledge that will lead to the design of smarter diagnostics and effective treatments. The team aim to understand the fundamental biological processes involved in dementia at a molecular level – and to use that knowledge to design new ways to diagnose and treat disease more precisely.

Dr Marc-David Ruepp’s group (https://ukdri.ac.uk/team/marc-david-ruepp ) is seeking to appoint a Research Associate for a collaborative project with the group of Prof Pietro Fratta (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ion/research/our-departments/neuromuscular-diseases/dr-p-fratta ) in the context of a pre-clinical work package for a gene therapy approach for ALS/FTD.

The successful candidate should have significant laboratory experience in RNA Biology, molecular biology, stem cell culture and neuronal differentiation. The role involves significant work in molecular cloning, induced pluripotent stem cell culture and neuronal differentiation along with phenotyping and analysis of changes in gene expression by RT-PCR and qPCR.

You will join a multidisciplinary team on the Denmark Hill Campus with a leading role in:

• Designing and performing experiments
• Developing technical advances
• Performing data analysis
• Presenting the results

You will be a motivated and creative scientist with attention to detail and timelines. You will also be given opportunities to work closely with other scientists across the UK DRI and in external universities and you will be given opportunities to explore your own and other novel ideas, train in new methods and develop new competencies. You will also be supported to attend scientific meetings to present work, subject to progress and budgets.

This post is full-time and will be offered on an a fixed-term contract for two years with the option to be extended for an additional year.

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearance.