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Vacancy Reference Number: B02-08326
Closing Date: 2 Mar 2025
Salary: £35,630–£41,005 per annum
Address: UK DRI at UCL, Queen Square - On site
Duration: The role is available from 01 April 2025 and funded by LifeArc for fifteen months in the first instance.
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) is the biggest UK initiative supporting research to fill the major knowledge gap in our basic understanding of the diseases that cause dementia. Research from UK DRI at UCL covers the journey from the patient to the laboratory and back to the patient with improved diagnosis, biomarkers, and candidate therapies put to the test.
About us:
The Research Department of Neurodegenerative Disease is focused on the study of neurodegenerative diseases causing dementia and related disorders. We focus on mechanistic dissection of genetic, molecular, cellular, and neuropathological processes that underlie neurodegeneration in particular diseases and across the neurodegeneration spectrum. A related touchstone of our research is to identify pathophysiological mechanisms and markers that link molecular pathology to clinical phenotypes of neurodegenerative disease.
The Isaacs Lab, based in the Department, investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The lab is particularly interested in the C9orf72 gene, which is a common cause of both FTD and ALS, and the CHMP2B gene, which is a rare cause of FTD.
About the role:
In collaboration with the ARUK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, the Isaacs Lab has developed a high-throughput screen to identify small molecules that reverse the molecular consequences of TDP-43 depletion. Promising small molecules are tested in neuroblastoma cells and human iPSC-derived neuronal models in which TDP-43 is depleted.
We are recruiting a Research Technician, whose role will focus on refining iPSC-neuron models of TDP-43 depletion and testing the effects of candidate small molecules on molecular and cellular phenotypes, such as cryptic splicing and axonal outgrowth.
About you:
You will have a BSc in a relevant discipline (e.g., biomedical research), as well as experience with immunostaining, microscopy and image analysis, and iPSC culture and neuronal differentiation. Excellent communication skills are essential, as are strong problem-solving skills and the ability to collaborate effectively.
Informal enquiries regarding the role can be addressed to Professor Adrian Isaacs (a.isaacs@ucl.ac.uk).
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