Research Associate (Fixed Term) (Cambridge)

Vacancy Reference Number

ZE45925

Closing Date

25 May 2025

Salary

£37,174-£45,413

Address

UK DRI at The University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1TN

Duration

The funds for this post are available until 28 February 2027 in the first instance

Dementia is the greatest health challenge of our century.

To date there is no way to prevent it or even slow its progression, and there is an urgent need to fill the knowledge gap in our basic understanding of the diseases that cause it.

The UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) is the biggest UK initiative driving forward research to fill this gap. We are a globally leading multidisciplinary research institute of 700 staff investigating the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders causing dementia, with laboratory-based research groups located at University College London, the University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, Edinburgh University, Imperial College London and King's College London.

The mission of the UK DRI at the University of Cambridge, led by Professor Mina Ryten, is to create a collaborative, inter-disciplinary Centre that combines world-leading expertise across cell biology, chemistry, transcriptomics and genetics to understand the mechanisms driving neurodegeneration. We study all stages of disease in order to identify therapeutic targets with the greatest potential to treat dementia. Our existing research themes encompassing protein aggregation and clearance, ER dynamics, autophagy, DNA repair and transcriptomics, have already been highly successful and we intend to build on this momentum by continuing to recruit talented scientists.

We are seeking to appoint a Research Associate to join the McEwan Group at the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge.

The post is a fixed term study in collaboration with the ARUK Drug Discovery Institute.

The successful candidate will research the ability of E3 ubiquitin ligases to degrade cytosolic protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases. They will build from recent discoveries that the antiviral receptor TRIM21 can evoke a potent degradation response against tau (Benn et al 2024 39208111), to uncover the range and requirement of ligases that can drive aggregate responses. Newly identified ligases will become the subject for collaboration with DDI for medicinal chemistry approaches.

How to apply: https://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51266/

Further Information

Applicants must have (or be close to obtaining) a PhD.
Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant (Grade 5, Point 38 £34,132) moving to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon confirmation of your PhD award.

Contact Details

For informal inquiries regarding the role, contact Dr William McEwan wm305@cam.ac.uk