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Postdoctoral Research Associates

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Central), London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
£38,826 - £43,239 per annum
Closing date
17 Oct 2021

Job Details

Muscle Activity and Growth: from Developmental Genetics to the Human Population. The PDRAs will work collaboratively in the group of Professor Simon M. Hughes in the multidisciplinary Randall Centre to study:

Post 1) The role of physical force in the growth of skeletal muscle through a novel force-sensing system.

Post 2) The role of muscle stem cell heterogeneity in growth and repair of skeletal muscle.

The successful candidates will have deep understanding of experimental design and analysis in modern biomolecular and genetic research, and will work with zebrafish.

Post 3) The genetic and environmental causes of sarcopenia, ageing-related muscle wasting.  This project, in collaboration with genetic epidemiologist and health data scientist Dr Nick Dand (KCL), will employ UK Biobank data to analyse the genetics and epidemiology of sarcopenia.

The PDRAs will join our MRC-funded team focused on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of muscle growth, maintenance and repair. We want to know how exercise, nutrition and time of day interact with genetic predisposition to determine individual trajectory by generating hypotheses from human data and testing them in model systems.  Experience with molecular genetics, timelapse confocal microscopy, zebrafish, equipment construction, physiology, GWAS, data analysis in R and muscle may all be advantageous.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/hughes-group

This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract until 31/10/2022.

This is a full-time  post - 100% full time equivalent

Key responsibilities

Post 1) To develop new assays and protocols to assess the role of Forcin signalling, a novel pathway we have discovered that acts downstream of actomyosin activity to drive muscle growth.  To use those approaches to determine the dynamics of regulatory changes and interaction with known pathways regulating muscle growth, such as TORC1.

Post 2) To ablate/perturb specific cell populations and examine the effect on myogenesis by timelapse confocal microscopy.

Post 3). To perform epidemiological analyses using the UK Biobank and generate hypotheses, or test those generated from our zebrafish studies, in the human population through PheWAs and GWAS analysis.

  • To analyse and interpret the data collected in the above studies, and to contribute to the preparation of publications describing the results

  • To work collaboratively within the experimental team to generate and test hypotheses on muscle growth and maintenance in zebrafish, other model species and/or humans.

  • The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria

  1. PhD in a relevant discipline
  2. Deep interest in fundamental science and its application(s)
  3. Excellent practical laboratory or computing/mathematical skills relevant to the respective roles
  4. Experience of experiments on eukaryotic cells or tissues (Posts 1 and 2)
  5. Experience of experiments on human genetic analysis (Post 3)
  6. Good written and verbal communication skills in English
  7. Significant contribution to one or more peer-reviewed primary research publications either published, in press or submitted.
  8. Ability to interact and work collaboratively in a team

Desirable criteria

  1. Experience with zebrafish (Post 1 and 2)  
  2. Experience with human genetics (Post 3)
  3. Experience/knowledge of molecular genetic and biochemistry techniques
  4. Experience of measurements and statistical analysis (preferably using R)
  5. Experience in muscle research

Further information

Post 1) Is funded by the MRC to investigate the growth and maintenance of skeletal muscle. We recently discovered a new pathway by which mechanical activity promotes skeletal muscle growth.  We have a candidate molecular regulator in this pathway, called Forcin, which interacts with, but it distinct from, other known systems regulating muscle growth, such as TORC1 signalling. The project will examine how Forcin activity is regulated by the physical force generated by actomyosin contraction during muscle activity.  We expect the results to be transformative for understanding the regulation of muscle growth and the development of approaches to prevent or reverse muscle wasting conditions. The post-holder will be responsible for developing new molecular genetic approaches to understand Forcin regulation, including in vivo reporters in zebrafish.

Post 2) Is funded by the MRC to investigate the growth and maintenance of skeletal muscle. We recently discovered distinct behaviours in molecularly-distinct muscle stem cell subpopulations.  The project will use developmental genetics to ablate or otherwise perturb function of each population and determine the effect on muscle.  We expect the results to transform understanding of mechanisms of muscle growth and aid prevention or reversal of muscle wasting conditions. The post-holder will help develop new molecular genetic approaches to understand control of muscle fibre number and size.

Post 3) Is funded by the MRC to build on a recently-initiated collaborative study to use the cross-talk between fundamental studies of muscle cell biology and molecular genetics in the zebrafish and other model organisms to gain insight into sarcopenia, the ageing-related muscle wasting that affects some people worse than others.  We want to discover the genetic and life-long lifestyle factors that cause sarcopenia, and what might be done at each life stage to mitigate it.

Online interviews are planned for the week of 18th October 2021.  Selected candidates will then be invited for in-person lab visits to meet the team and to present their work.  Immediate availability may be an advantage.

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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