An enthusiastic and committed Research Associate is required to join a new and ambitious team working in the field of human pluripotent stem cell biology and heart development. You will lead exciting research focused on understanding the molecular biology of human cardiac progenitors and the determinants of cardiac cell fate. The position is funded through a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship awarded to Dr Matthew Birket titled: “Understanding Cardiac Progenitors to deliver Regenerative Medicine and Disease Modelling”. The project will take advantage of the lab’s unique access to human tissue to align stem cell differentiation in vitro with human heart development. Cutting-edge technologies including single cell genomics, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and clonal lineage tracing will be employed to achieve these aims. You should have experience with pluripotent stem cells and a range of molecular biology techniques.
The purpose of the research is:
- To decipher the heterogeneity of hPSC-derived CPCs and determine the fundamental molecular requirements of CPCs and understand how their fate is controlled.
- To develop novel systems for enhancing the self-renewal of CPCs by testing the functional impact of putative self-renewal genes expressed from safe harbour loci in combination with an optimised signaling environment.
- To generate a ventricular cardiomyocyte reporter hPSC line (MYL2-P2A-Tom-T2A-nLuc; construct already made) with which to specifically quantify and optimise commitment to this fate.
- To construct a molecular blueprint of human ventricular development through embryonic/fetal states, using a variety of molecular approaches.
The successful candidate will hold (or expect to hold shortly) a PhD or equivalent in molecular biology/stem cell biology/genetics, hold a BSc (hons) or equivalent in molecular biology or similar and have extensive up to date theoretical and practical knowledge of cell biology/development/genetic cell manipulation.
An ability to work to deadlines, be task focused and demonstrate excellent organisational skills and confidence in dealing with multiple tasks within a multidisciplinary team will be necessary. Excellent team working and communication skills will also be required.
The School/Department is strongly committed to promoting equality and diversity, including the Athena SWAN charter for gender equality in higher education. The School/Department holds a Silver Award which recognises their good practice in relation to gender; including flexible working arrangements, family-friendly policies, and support to allow staff achieve a good work-life balance. We particularly welcome applications from women for this post. All appointment will be made on merit. For further information, please visit: https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/about/equality/
Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here
Blended working arrangements may be considered
Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.
Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:
Name: Dr Matthew Birket
Email: matthew.birket@manchester.ac.uk
General enquiries:
Email: People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk
Technical support:
https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home
This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.
Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.
