Job title: Postdoctoral Training Fellow – Ultanir Lab

Location: The Francis Crick Institute, Midland Road, London

Short summary

Dr Ultanir’s laboratory focuses on the role of kinases in neuronal development and function. Kinases regulate all cellular processes by phosphorylating their substrates, most human proteins are known to be phosphorylated. The roles of many disease-associated kinases and the functional regulation of their substrates are not known. CDKL5 is a brain enriched serine/threonine kinase. Loss of function mutations of CDKL5 cause a severe neurodevelopmental disorder with seizures, called CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD). CDD is a rare disease, yet it is a relatively common type of genetic developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. The lab’s research aims to understand the roles of CDKL5 in brain and how loss of CDKL5 leads to neuropathology.

Details of research projects currently being undertaken can be seen at:  https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/labs/sila-ultanir

Ultanir lab uses state of the art chemical genetics and mass spectrometry methods to determine the substrates and signaling pathways regulated by kinases. Mouse models and human iPSCs to investigate these signaling pathways are used. Some of the methods that the lab uses include confocal microscopy, live imaging, kinase biochemistry, brain slice electrophysiology, microtubule-based transport assays and mouse behaviour..

Key Responsibilities

The purpose of this role is to investigate the role of CDKL5 substrates in neuronal development and function in mice and in iPSCs. The postdoctoral training fellow will be responsible for bioinformatics analysis of proteomics and transcriptomics datasets in mouse and human iPSC models.

Postdoctoral Training Fellows will lead their own projects, contribute to other projects on a collaborative basis (both in the lab and with external collaborators) and help train PhD students. The ability to work in a team is essential.

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 01.04.2023
• All offers of employment are subject to successful security screening and continuous eligibility to work in the United Kingdom.

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