Dementia is the biggest 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.
The UK DRI at Imperial College London brings novel, cutting edge approaches and research tools to the study of dementia to discover new disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. The team focus on the earliest pre-symptomatic stages of Alzheimer’s disease, addressing what determines the transition to neurodegeneration, and will investigate mechanisms that are likely shared across many of the dementias.
The fellowship programme of Dr. Yu Ye is evolved around the regulatory roles of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. Using advanced fluorescence imaging techniques, the lab seeks to uncover the cellular mechanisms of restricting or reversing protein aggregation, and how malfunction of the UPS system leads to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
The appointed Research Associate will be expected to help define specific research programmes within this remit and undertake these in conjunction with colleagues in multi-disciplinary teams. Considerable independence is expected, with anticipation of a growing role in leadership of the research. In addition, you will be expected to submit publications to refereed journals and to join in attracting external research funding.
Applicants will be ambitious, with the passion to tackle big problems and a readiness to try out high-risk, high-payoff projects. Exceptional experience in fluorescence biophysics, photonics or electrophysiology is essential for this role. The applicant will be confident in multi-disciplinary studies and have experience in assembling TIRF microscopes, knowledge of advanced super-resolution imaging and single-cell patch clamp. Additional skills in image analysis (e.g. ImageJ), programming (Matlab) and rodent work is desirable.
For more information and to apply, please click here.
ukdri@imperial.ac.uk
