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 runs a Cross-Centre Postdoctoral Programme, designed to simultaneously fund exciting emerging science and to foster intra-UK DRI collaboration through support of a postdoctoral position based across two UK DRI Centres. This is an exciting opportunity to work on a research project to establish a synergistic collaboration between Prof David Sharp’s laboratory (based at the UK DRI Care Research & Technology Centre) and Dr Marc Aurel Busche’s laboratory (based at the UK DRI at UCL).
This unique postdoctoral position offers the opportunity to leverage the UK DRI’s cross-institutional strengths; although you will be appointed to the UK DRI at UCL, you will also benefit from time spent working at the UK DRI CR&T Centre at Imperial College London.
You’ll examine the effects of traumatic brain injury on neuronal circuit and neurovascular function in vivo, recording neuronal activity and vascular dynamics using state of the art two-photon and electrophysiological (Neuropixels) methods and linking this to available human datasets. This is fantastic chance to work independently on a high impact, state-of-the-art collaborative and cross-species project in a stimulating and vibrant research environment.
Person Criteria
You will have a PhD (or be near to completion) or equivalent in Neuroscience, or a neuroscience related quantitative discipline and a strong background in cellular circuit and/or systems neuroscience. Practical experience with Neuropixels probes or other high-density extracellular recordings probes and/or in vivo two-photon calcium imaging is essential, as is practical understanding of modern behavioural assays and associated hardware and software, and experience working with live mice and of rodent stereotactic surgery. Strong programming and coding ability (e.g., MATLAB or Python), outstanding analytical and/or statistical analysis skills and a strong publication record are also key requirements for this role.
For a confidential discussion regarding the role, please contact Dr Marc Aurel Busche, m.busche@ucl.ac.uk
