PDRA - Transcription-enhanced Genome Damage in Human Disease

Full-time: 35 hours per week 

Fixed-term: 2 years

The Opportunity

Transcribed genes are thought to be privileged genomic regions protected from DNA damage and mutation by transcription-coupled repair processes. However, our recent work has demonstrated that transcription in human cells can enhance DNA damage, leading to at least one mutational signature in cancer (Reijns et al, Nature 2022), and has also been detected in ageing brains.

This project will address how and why transcription-associated genome instability occurs in mammalian cells, its initiation and the processes shaping it. Using cellular and mouse model systems, the goal is to establish the role of transcription-induced damage in cancer, and other human diseases. It may also shed light on how DNA damage drives innate immune-mediated inflammation in Aicardi-Goutières syndrome.

The post-holder will be part of a multidisciplinary team in the lab of Prof. Andrew Jackson, working in a cross-disciplinary environment that addresses both fundamental cellular processes and disease mechanisms. The research group is internationally diverse and strongly competitive consistently publishing in high-level journals including 5 papers published in Science and Nature in the last 10 years. The lab is embedded in the Institute of Genetics and Cancer, a highly collaborative and supportive environment.

For further details on the research group: institute-genetics-cancer.ed.ac.uk/research/research-groups-a-z/a-jackson-group  

This post is full-time (35 hours per week) and is fixed term for 2 years.

The salary for this post is £41,064 to £48,822 per annum.

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