The UK Dementia Research Institute (https://ukdri.ac.uk/ - UK DRI) is the biggest initiative supporting research to fill this gap.
Research from UK DRI at UCL (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/uk-dementia-research-institute/) 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.
We are looking to appoint a highly motivated postdoctoral Research Fellow in organic chemistry/radiochemistry. The project is part of a collaboration between Professor Karen Duff, Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL (UK DRI), and Professor Erik Arstad, Director of the Centre for Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry (CRC), and will involve the development of a novel positron emission tomography (PET) tracer for imaging of dementia. The successful candidate will be required to synthesize small molecule target compounds, including precursors for radiolabelling, and will also have the opportunity to work with labelling chemistry for fluorine-18. The candidate will join a vibrant multidisciplinary team fully integrated within the UCL Department of Chemistry and the Division of Medicine, and the role will be based at the UCL main campus in Bloomsbury in Kathleen Lonsdale Building, Gower Place.
The post is available immediately and is funded by the UK DRI at UCL for a period of one year in the first instance.
Key Requirements
Applicants must have a PhD in a relevant area, eg, organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry or radiochemistry, and expert knowledge and excellent practical skills in organic chemistry. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and good inter-personal skills with an ability to work co-operatively in a multidiscipinary setting, are also required. Experience with radiochemistry, in particular fluorine-18 labelling chemistry, is desirable.
Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at research assistant Grade 6B (salary £31,965 - £33,194 per annum) with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis.If the PhD has not yet been granted, the final accepted version of the thesis must have been submitted to the degree-granting university by the start date.
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 Miss E Bertram, HR Manager, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, 23 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG (email: ion.hradmin@ucl.ac.uk).
For informal enquiries about the role, please contact Erik Arstad (email: e.arstad@ucl.ac.uk).
