2024 BNA Scholars announced
15th March 2024
Day-to-day lab work on this project will take place in Prof Linda Partridge’s laboratory at the UCL Institute for Healthy Aging (IHA). The project is funded by Prof Adrian Isaacs laboratory at the UK Dementia Research Institute, located in the UCL Department of Neurodegenerative Disease; the post-holder will, therefore, be a member of this department. The IHA and UK DRI are co-located within UCL’s main Bloomsbury campus.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two devastating, mid-life, neurodegenerative disorders for which no cure is currently available. A GGGGCC (G4C2) repeat expansion in C9orf72 is the most frequent genetic cause. The repeats undergo an unconventional translation mechanism, termed repeat-associated non-ATG translation, whereby they mediate their own translation into proteins, without the need for an ATG start codon. Five different dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) are generated – poly(GR), poly(PR), poly(GA), poly(AP) and poly(GP). We developed a range of novel Drosophila models to show that the DPRs play an important role in causing C9orf72 FTD/ALS (Mizielinska et al Science 2014, 345(6201):1192-1194). We have identified several novel modifiers of C9orf72 repeat toxicity in adult Drosophila neurons, and the aim of this post is to further investigate these novel modifiers in flies by using fly genetics and pharmacological treatments and fly phenotyping, including molecular and biochemical techniques.
The post-holder will join a multidisciplinary team working on multiple aspects of C9orf72-induced neurodegeneration, including several researchers working across the laboratories of Profs Linda Partridge and Adrian Isaacs.
The post is available immediately and is funded by grants from the European Research Council and the UK DRI@UCL until 30th September 2022 in the first instance.
Applicants must have a PhD (or be studying towards it) in the relevant subject area. Experience with molecular and biochemical techniques is essential.
For more information and to apply, please click here.
We will consider applications to work on a part-time, flexible and job share basis wherever possible.
If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact Libby Bertram, (e.bertram@ucl.ac.uk@ucl.ac.uk).