Research Technician

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

The Role
You will be responsible for differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to retinal organoids, enrichment of photoreceptors for subretinal transplantation by flow cytometry, organizing animal breeding and assisting the postdoctoral research assistants with immunofluorescence and FISH analyses of transplanted eyes. You will work as part of a team comprised of two postdoctoral research associates on this MRC funded project focusing on the assessment of engraftment of hESC-derived photoreceptors and their ability to restore vision in early and advanced stages of Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a common form of hereditary photoreceptor dystrophy associated with progressive rod degeneration of the mid-peripheral retina, leading to night blindness and loss of visual acuity. At later stages of the disease, cones degenerate as well, resulting in complete blindness at final disease stages. The supporting retinal pigment epithelium cell layer (RPE), which is essential for normal retina function is also altered at the end stages of disease due to photoreceptor death. Therefore, there is a pressing need to develop novel approaches either for photoreceptor replacement alone or in combination with RPE cells or for reactivation of dysfunctional surviving photoreceptor by gene therapy (if performed at early stages of the disease).

In our group, we develop artificial retinas (organoids) and RPE cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). We isolate photoreceptors from these organoids and inject them in retinas with photoreceptor dystrophies, with the goal to achieve integration of these healthy photoreceptors into the host retina, eventually restoring visual function. We have successfully achieved these goals using a cone-enriched population of photoreceptor precursors in a mouse model of RP, resulting in partial restoration of visual function assessed by behavioural and electrophysiological testing. However, given the prevalence of rod degeneration in RP, our hypothesis for this project is that transplantation of hPSCs-derived rods at early stages may lead to improved rod integration and function, while also protecting cones from degenerating at later stages. On the other hand, we suggest that a combination of rod, cone and RPE transplantation may achieve optimal results at more advanced stages of retinal degeneration.

You will work under the direction of all three investigators on a full-time, fixed-term basis from 1 June 2024 for 18 months.

Please note that if you are successful to this role, you will require medical clearance before you can commence in the role.

For informal enquiries contact: Professor Majlinda Lako.

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/.

Find out more about our Research Institutes here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/.

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