Postdoctoral Researcher

Comparative Cell Biology and Pharmacology of Disease Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences Royal Veterinary College, Camden, London Salary: c. £31.1k pa inclusive Contract length: 2 years Closing Date: 4 March 2014 Job Ref: CBS-0008-14 Interviews: likely to be held the week beginning 24 March 2014 Topic: Metabolic defects in Neurodegeneration Job summary: Defects in mitochondria and lysosomes, which may result in a lack of specific metabolites, have been implicated in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including Late Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (LINCL), a paediatric progressive neurodegenerative disease that is the focus of this research. Aim The post is full time and the successful applicant will be responsible for running the experimental program outlined in the awarded grant. We will use the zebrafish model to determine whether defects in autophagy or mitochondria contribute to LINCL pathology and determine if nutritional supplements or upregulation of mitochondrial ATPsynthase Inhibitory Factor 1 (IF1) function ameliorates the neurodegenerative phenotype of the zebrafish model of LINCL, therefore indicating if this approach has potential for treating affected children. The team leaders Drs. Claire Russell and Michelangelo Campanella will provide training in the key techniques. Your profile Applicants must have a PhD in a biological science, experience using zebrafish or performing mitochondrial and autophagy assays, ability to troubleshoot and optimise experiments, and effective teamwork and communication skills, with a high degree of motivation. Informal enquiries to Dr Claire Russell crussell@rvc.ac.uk or Dr Michelangelo Campanella mcampanella@rvc.ac.uk The tentative start date for this role is June 2014. We offer a generous reward package including a pension scheme. For further information and to apply on-line please visit our website: www.rvc.ac.uk