Research Associate in the Department of Psychological Medicine

King's College London; City Of London; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 53,000; Full time

Job summary

An esteemed university in the UK is seeking a researcher to conduct in-depth studies on neurodegenerative diseases. The role requires a PhD in neuroscience and experience in rodent neuron culture and microscopy techniques. Candidates should possess a strong drive to advance scientific knowledge and contribute to important medical discoveries. This is a full-time position with a competitive salary range of £45,031 to £52,514 annually.

Benefits

10 days of professional development per year pro-rata

Qualifications

• Experience in generating and culturing primary rodent cortical neurons
• Good experience of conducting super resolution microscopy
• Previous experience working with iPSC derived cells or organoids

Responsibilities

• Conduct basic medical research related to neurodegenerative diseases
• Explore relationship between amyloid-beta and alpha-synuclein
• Work closely with colleagues on biomarker discovery and clinical trials

Skills

Generating and culturing primary rodent neurons and glia

Microscopy techniques (confocal, super resolution)

Immunoblotting

Image analysis software (Image-J/FUJI)

Protein, RNA and DNA extraction

Statistical analysis (Prism/SPSS)

Education

PhD in relevant subject area (neuroscience or related)

Tools

ELISA

Immunocytochemistry

Immunohistochemistry

Job description

About us

This role is based in the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CfHBA), in the Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London.

The IoPPN aims to change and shape how we understand, prevent and treat mental health and other conditions that affect the brain. We work to transform care for people who are affected by mental health and neurological conditions, through world‑class research, education and training, to serve communities locally and globally.

About the role

The post-holder will join a Rosetrees Trust funded research project which aims to determine the molecular mechanisms of synapse loss that occur across several of the major neurodegenerative, primarily with the aim of identifying means to halt them. The project spans from mouse to man and bench to bedside and will utilise many different techniques and advanced pieces of equipment available at the world‑renowned Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute.

Specifically, this post will explore the relationship between the driver of Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid-beta (Ab), and the driver of Parkinson’s disease, alpha-synuclein (⍺Syn), with the aim of uncovering the common mechanism we suspect lies at the heart of both diseases. The role will primarily conduct ‘wet lab’ based basic medical research but will also work closely with other colleagues involved in animal work, fluid-based biomarker discovery and the conducting of clinical trials.

Essential to this role is the ability to generate, maintain and treat primary rodent cortical neurons, good experience of conducting super resolution microscopy and performing quantitative analysis of synapse/dendritic spine number and morphology and previous experience of working with human iPSC derived cells and or organoids.

This is a full-time post 35 hours per week, and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31st October 2029.

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• PhD in relevant subject area (neuroscience or related)
• Experience and ability of generating and culturing primary rodent neurons and glia.
• Experience and knowledge of working with iPSC derived cells.
• Broad knowledge and wide experience of immunoblotting, immunocytochemistry, immunohistochemistry and ELISA.
• A drive to lead and progress science with a sense of urgency, exemplified through timely realisation of results and publications.
• Good experience of microscopy techniques, especially confocal and super resolution microscopy and use of Image-J/FUJI or other image analysis software.
• Broad experience of protein, RNA and DNA extraction and classical and quantitative PCR. Experience of synaptosomal preps and subcellular fractionation are both an advantage.
• Proficiency in Word, Excel and Power Point (or Apple equivalents), and Prism/SPSS statistical packages.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of immunoprecipitation/co-IP
• Experience of recombinant protein production
• Experience of click chemistry/protein semi-synthesis/peptide synthesisExperience of culturing brain organoids
• Use of multielectrode array (MEA) and/or Ca2+ imaging systems

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document.

£45,031 to £52,514 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance