Post-doctoral Research Fellow, School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science

Applications are invited for a temporary post of a UCD Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 or 2 within UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science

The Chromatin Architecture in Cancer laboratory (https://conwaychromatinlab.com/) at University College Dublin, led by Dr. Eric Conway, are recruiting a postdoctoral fellow to work on targeting the transcription factor network for therapeutic benefit in ovarian cancer. This position will be funded through a Worldwide Cancer Research award.

Project description

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most lethal gynaecological malignancy, with little improvement in survival rates (~30%) or treatment over the last 50 years. Therefore, there is a critical unmet need to identify new therapeutic targets for these women. Core regulatory transcription factors (TFs) have highly specific tumour dependency patterns, and therefore represent an enormous opportunity for targeted treatment. However, successfully drugging TFs has remained an elusive goal to date. We propose to define the mechanism-of-action of the HGSOC core TFs in controlling transcription and the epigenome in order to identify means to specifically target cancer cells. Using a combination of in vitro and primary patient samples, this project will establish model systems to investigate these mechanisms in depth. This will primarily involve wet-lab experimentation using CRISPR-Cas9 screening, mass spectrometry and functional genomics assays (ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, CUT&Tag, Hi-C).

This inter-disciplinary project will involve close collaboration with clinical haematologists at St. James's hospital, wet-lab & computational biologists and international research groups. Relevant recent publications from our group include Doyle et al, Frontiers in Cell & Dev Bio (2022), Conway et al, Molecular Cell (2021), Tamburri et al, Molecular Cell (2020), and Conway et al, Molecular Cell (2018).

Lab description

The Chromatin Architecture in Cancer laboratory is focused on leveraging mechanistic understanding of chromatin and epigenetic pathways to identify novel therapeutic targets in cancer. We pursue this goal through two means; 1) Use of isogenic disease model systems to explore disrupted epigenetic pathways, and 2) leveraging epigenomic mapping studies from patient samples to identify essential transcription factors and pathways that can be therapeutically targeted.

The group is affiliated with the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences, and the UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research. Our group is located in the Conway Institute, an interdisciplinary research centre exploring the mechanisms of health and disease towards the development of preventative strategies and novel diagnostic and therapeutic solutions.

This is an advanced research focused role, building on your prior experience as a post-doctoral fellow, where you will conduct a specified programme of research supported by research training under the supervision and direction of a Principal Investigator.

The primary purpose of the role is to develop new or advanced research skills and competences, on the processes of publication in peer-reviewed academic publications and scholarly dissemination, the development of funding proposals, and the supervision and mentorship of graduate students along with the opportunity to develop your skills in research led teaching.

In addition to the Principal Duties and Responsibilities listed below, the successful candidate will also carry out the following duties specific to this project:

• Collaborating with other researchers both in UCD and externally.

Salary Range: 42,033 - 45,819 per annum

Appointment on the above range will be dependent upon qualifications and experience.

Closing date: 17:00hrs (local Irish time) on 30th June 2023

Applications must be submitted by the closing date and time specified. Any applications which are still in progress at the closing time of 17:00hrs (Local Irish Time) on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system.

UCD are unable to accept late applications.

UCD do not require assistance from Recruitment Agencies. Any CV's submitted by Recruitment Agencies will be returned.

The PD1 position is intended for early stage researchers, either just after completion of a PhD or for someone entering a new area for the first time. If you have already completed your PD1 stage in UCD or will soon complete a PD1, or you are an external applicant whose total Postdoctoral experience, inclusive of the duration of the advertised post, would exceed 4 years, you should not apply and should refer to PD2 posts instead. The PD2 post is intended for researchers that have completed PD1. As with the PD1, if you have already completed your PD2 stage in UCD or will soon complete a PD2, or your total Postdoctoral experience, inclusive of the duration of the advertised post, would exceed 6 years, you should not apply and should refer to Research Fellow posts instead.

Prior to application, further information (including application procedure) should be obtained from the Work at UCD website: https://www.ucd.ie/workatucd/jobs/