Post Doctoral Fellowships in Cardiovascular Science

The HRI is a preeminent independent Medical Research Institute focused on understanding the causes and mechanisms of cardiovascular disease to apply this knowledge and provide better prevention and treatment. The HRI produces world class research in close collaboration with local health authorities, hospitals, and universities as well as with its wide range of international collaborators.

To continue producing cutting edge, innovative and world-leading cardiovascular research, the HRI recognises the need to attract and support talented younger scientists from diverse backgrounds and countries. To achieve this, the HRI is offering fellowships for early career researchers. The Fellowships are initially for a period of 2 years to work under the mentorship of senior HRI scientists, with potential to lead to an independent research program, dependant on progression.

Due to the nature of the funding arrangement, the positions are open only to people currently or recently working in the UK at a UK cardiovascular research unit and currently not residing in Australia. It is anticipated that the fellowships will commence in early 2025. HRI will offer visa support, relocation assistance, and assistance with the cost of temporary accommodation upon arrival in Sydney. The appointments may be worked as either two years in Sydney, or one year in Sydney and one year in a collaborating institute in the UK.

This program is aimed at ambitious early career researchers and seeks to identify individuals with demonstrated creativity and an impressive CV. Successful applicants will have 3-8 years post-doctoral experience (career interruptions will be taken into consideration on request), a strong track record and be on a leadership trajectory. Candidates will be selected for interview based on academic excellence and potential for leadership by a panel of senior discovery and clinical scientists.

Applicant’s work and proposed project should ideally synergise with one HRI’s key areas of interest, as outlined below. Applicants must have identified an HRI group they wish to work with and must have secured the support of the relevant Group/Unit Leader and discussed a research plan/project. Further information on the research of each group can be found at Research and Medical Science • Heart Research Institute (hri.org.au)

Current groups seeking a Post-Doctoral Fellow include:

• The Vascular Complications Group is trying to understand pathogenesis of blood vessel diseases including atherosclerosis and to develop novel strategies and therapeutics to combat atherosclerotic diseases, the underlying cause of coronary and peripheral artery disease. Contact: A/Prof Mary Kavurma mary.kavurma@hri.org.au
• The Atherosclerosis and Vascular Remodelling Group is exploring the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis through advanced cardiovascular genetics and transcriptomics, in collaboration with leading international researchers. Contact: Dr Ashish Misra ashish.misra@hri.org.au
• The Cardiovascular Regeneration Group is studying the complex pathophysiology of the cardiac microenvironment using state-of-the-art technologies, including personalised stem cells and 3D bioprinters. Contact: Dr Carmine Gentile carmine.gentile@hri.org.au
• The Microvascular Research Group is focused on understanding the role of reactive species in small artery signalling and disease, following their recent landmark publications (Nature 2019; 566: p548, Nat Commun 2021; 12: p6626) Contact: Dr Christopher Stanley christopher.stanley@hri.org.au
• The Cardiovascular Protective Signalling and Drug Discovery Group’s research focuses on integrating bioinformatics, natural product synthesis, and protein engineering to develop novel proteomic approaches for drug screening and target discovery in patient-derived blood cells. Contact: Dr Xuyu Liu xuyu.liu@hri.org.au

APPLICATIONS

Applications close on 20 August 2024 and should be addressed to Professor Mathew Vadas and emailed to careers@hri.org.au

Applications should contain:
(a) A structured CV outlining:
- educational and research experience
- research techniques mastered
- all research publications - for all those where the applicant is cited as first or senior author, add a 100-word explanation of the importance of the paper. For all other papers, please include a one-sentence statement of the applicant’s role in the paper

(b) A cover letter including:
- a 1–2 page outline of an innovative project the applicant would be interested in pursuing and what the applicant can bring to HRI
- the applicant’s reasons for wanting to work at HRI
- an outline of the applicant’s career ambitions

ELIGIBILITY

• Applicants must be able to demonstrate current or recent employment in cardiovascular research in the UK
• This is a Category A position according to the NSW Health Policy - Occupational Assessment, Screening Vaccination Against Specified Infectious Diseases. The successful applicant will be required to provide evidence of protection against the infectious diseases specified, at their own cost, prior to appointment

WE OFFER:

• State-of-the art scientific facilities
• An excellent location in the heart of Newtown, a vibrant city area, close to the University of Sydney and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
• A competitive salary depending on experience, plus not-for-profit salary packaging benefits
• A friendly, flexible, and productive team environment
• Further benefits of working at HRI can be found our Benefits page: https://www.hri.org.au/join-us/benefits

The Heart Research Institute supports Equal Employment Opportunity. We value diversity and encourage applications from women, people with disability, LGBTQI individuals and applicants of diverse cultures and ages.

www.hri.org.au