Research Fellow UCL

Vacancy Reference Number

B02-06420

Closing Date

15 Feb 2024

Salary

£42,099–£50,585

Address

UK DRI at UCL, Queen Square

Duration

This post is available immediately and is funded by the UK DRI-Eli Lilly Research Collaboration until 31 January 2025 in the first instance.

About the job

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 supporting research to fill the major knowledge gap in our basic understanding of the diseases that cause dementia.

Research from UK DRI at UCL covers the journey from the patient to the laboratory and back to the patient with improved diagnosis, biomarkers and candidate therapies put to the test. Led by Professor Karen Duff, UK DRI Centre Director, the team addresses the key unanswered mechanistic questions that link genetic and lifecourse factors to dysfunction in molecular pathways, in cells and in neural systems during the progression of the dementias. This work will be enhanced by clinical resource to link lab work to the clinic.

The main interest of the Fluid Biomarker Laboratory is fluid biomarkers pertaining to neurodegenerative diseases and their measurement. We have a suite of immunoassay platforms and the expertise to advise our collaborators what biomarkers they should be looking at and how. We also take on new assay development projects – using homebrew to make previously unavailable assays on super-sensitive platforms.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Research Fellow to join our lab. We have been working with Quanterix, the company that introduced ultrasensitive Single molecule array (Simoa) technology into the immunoassay arena, to validate an upgraded version of this technology, which has the potential to be up to 100x more sensitive than the original technology (Kan et al., 2020). Having been working with this instrument since July 2021, we will use this to develop and validate assays for AβpE3-40 and AβpE3-42, as well as isomerised forms of Aβ if possible.

You will evaluate optimal antibody combinations for both pyroGlu Abeta 40 and 42, develop calibrators with good solubility and construct an assay with good signal to noise in brain tissue which will then be transferred to CSF and plasma.

Essential Criteria

You will have a PhD in a relevant discipline (e.g., biomedical research) and experience with, and knowledge of, biomarkers, as well as an interest in neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases. Experience of ELISA and immunoassay techniques is also required for this role.

Contact Information

To apply visit here.

Informal enquiries regarding the role can be addressed to Dr Amanda Heslegrave (a.heslegrave@ucl.ac.uk).