Research Associate - London, United Kingdom - King's College London

King's College London

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

3 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

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Description

Job id:
Salary: £43,205 - £49,263 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 13 February 2024.

Closing date: 18 February 2024.

Business unit:
Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine

Department:
Randall Cell & Molecular Biophysics.

Location:
Guy's Campus

Category:
Research.

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Job description

This post is for two positions to investigate how epithelia respond to crowding to trigger extrusion. Our lab identified cell extrusion as a critical process driving epithelial cell death.

Importantly, excess crowding from a bronchoconstrictive event in asthma can cause so much extrusion that it will destroy the airway epithelial barrier, driving subsequent inflammatory period.

To identify new ways to block this process and why some individuals are more affected by it, we need a better understanding of the signalling and mechanisms that drive extrusion.

Our work has centred on the role of Piezo1, which serves as an excellent therapeutic target in asthma.

The selected postdocs will use a biochemical, metabolism, and cell biology approach to identify the mechanisms that relay mechanical crowding into signaling that drives extrusion.

The rest of our lab studies epithelial cell extrusion and its impacts on asthma and tumor cell invasion.

This is a lab-based role for the duration of the contract.

This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract until 25th June 2026

This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent

Key responsibilities

Identifying mechanisms that activate Piezo1.

Defining outcomes of inability to extrude or excess extrusion on epithelial health.

Using proteomics & lipidomics to identify components of new Piezo1 structure

Conduct work independently with good notes and analysis presented weekly in one-on-one meetings.

Presenting work at internal, national, and international meetings

Writing papers and supervising other team members

Live and fixed imaging at many scales

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post._

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria