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.

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 and profound developmental delays, 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.  Ultanir lab uses state of the art chemical genetics and mass spectrometry methods to determine the substrates and signaling pathways regulated by kinases in mouse models. To study the roles of substrate phosphorylation, we generate phosphomutant mouse models and investigate cellular, molecular deficits, synaptic physiology and behaviour phenotypes. Our lab revealed CDKL5’s downstream effectors of microtubule binding proteins (Baltussen et al, 2018) and voltage-gated calcium channel Cav2.3 (Sampedro-Castaneda et al, 2023). These discoveries helped gain a better understanding of CDKL5 function and CDD pathology. In this new Crick core-funded postdoctoral project, we will use novel mouse models to explore CDKL5 substrates roles in synaptogenesis and their role in epilepsy in vivo.

The postdoctoral fellow will utilize variety of techniques including biochemistry, live-imaging, electrophysiology, in vivo functional recordings and behaviour to study the roles of phosphorylations in neuronal development and epileptogenesis in mice. Ultanir lab is part of a rich neuroscience community at the Francis Crick Institute. Postdoctoral Training Fellow will lead their own projects, contribute to other projects on a collaborative basis and help train PhD students.

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 20.12.2023
• All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.

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