Postdoctoral Fellow - Ultanir Lab

Location: The Francis Crick Institute, Midland Road, London

Short summary

An exciting opportunity for a motivated postdoctoral scientist to join Kinases and Brain Development laboratory https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/labs/sila-ultanir at the Francis Crick Institute, London, UK. The postdoctoral position will be in collaboration with Dr Florencia Iacaruso laboratory https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/labs/flor-iacaruso,  who uses state-of-the-art in vivo brain recordings and optogenetics methods in awake-behaving mice to analyse visual function.  

Dr Ultanir’s laboratory focuses on the role of protein kinases in neuronal development and function. Kinases regulate numerous cellular processes by phosphorylating their substrates and altering their function. CDKL5 is a brain enriched serine/threonine kinase. Loss of function mutations of CDKL5 cause a severe neurodevelopmental disorder with early-onset seizures, termed CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD). Our lab’s aim is to understand the roles of CDKL5 in the brain and to reveal how loss of CDKL5 leads to neuronal pathology. 

The project aims to reveal cellular and circuitry level functions of CDKL5 in visual development. In this collaborative project, the postdoctoral fellow will use CDKL5 knockout mice, phosphomutant mouse models of CDKL5 substrates and other genetic interventions to determine critical signalling pathways for visual cortex development.

Postdoctoral Fellow will lead their own projects, are expected to contribute to other projects on a collaborative basis (both in the lab and with external collaborators) and help train PhD students. 

Key experience and competencies

The post holder should embody and demonstrate our core Crick values:

Bold; Open; Collegial

Essential

• PhD in neuroscience, biology or a related discipline or in the final stages of PhD submission
• Good knowledge and experience in craniotomy, in vivo mouse brain recordings
• Track record of writing papers as evidenced by publications or submitted manuscripts in referred journals
• Evidence of data presentation at scientific meetings 

About us

The Francis Crick Institute is a biomedical discovery institute dedicated to understanding the fundamental biology underlying health and disease. Its work is helping to understand why disease develops and to translate discoveries into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, infections, and neurodegenerative diseases.

An independent organisation, its founding partners are the Medical Research Council (MRC), Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, UCL (University College London), Imperial College London and King’s College London.

The Crick was formed in 2015, and in 2016 it moved into a new state-of-the-art building in central London which brings together 1500 scientists and support staff working collaboratively across disciplines, making it the biggest biomedical research facility under in one building in Europe.

The Francis Crick Institute will be world-class with a strong national role. Its distinctive vision for excellence includes commitments to collaboration; developing emerging talent and exporting it the rest of the UK; public engagement; and helping turn discoveries into treatments as quickly as possible to improve lives and strengthen the economy. 

• If you are interested in applying for this role, please apply via our website.
• The closing date for applications is 27.10.23
• All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.

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