Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Oxford MND Centre

at  University of Oxford

An enthusiastic postdoctoral researcher looking to develop an exciting line of research with Dr Dafinca in investigating synaptic dysfunction in iPS-derived neurons from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). iPSCs derived from ALS patients will be differentiated to motor and cortical neurons and their synaptic function assessed at the proteomic and transcriptomic levels.
Specifically, we aim to 1) Establish an efficient protocol for the isolation of synaptic regions from motor and cortical neuron cultures, 2) determine the differences in proteomic composition of synaptosomes in patients versus healthy (isogenic) controls, 3) validate targets in post-mortem tissue in collaboration with Oxford Brain Bank. The ultimate goal is to identify potential therapeutic targets involved in synaptic dysfunction.
Your duties will include developing, establishing, and pursuing appropriate analytical protocols (cell culture, imaging, biochemical) and techniques to support research for the project and developing research questions, testing hypotheses and analyzing scientific data from a variety of sources, reviewing and refining working hypotheses as appropriate. As well as, supervision of graduate students, acting as a source of information and advice to other members of the group on scientific protocols and experimental techniques, liaison with collaborators and manage own academic research and administrative activities. This involves small scale project management, to co-ordinate multiple aspects of work to meet deadlines.
It is essential that you hold award of a doctorate (PhD/DPhil) in neuroscience, have a proven track record in cell culture (particularly iPSC-derived neuronal cell culture) and have experience in molecular biology techniques. It is desirable that you have experience in computational biology tools for proteomics analysis, experience of research in neurodegeneration and have experience of grant applications.
For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Ruxandra Dafinca (ruxandra.dafinca@ndcn.ox.ac.uk) or Professor Kevin Talbot ( kevin.talbot@ndcn.ox.ac.uk)
Please see the below ‘Job Description’ for further details on the responsibilities and selection criteria, as well as further information about the university and how to apply.

Please refer the Job description for details