Research Assistant (In Vivo)

Transcription

1 Research Assistant (In Viv) Cllege f Medicine, Bilgical Sciences and Psychlgy Department f Cardivascular Sciences Salary Grade 6-25,504 t 29,541 per annum Open Ended Cntract, subject t Fixed Term Funding. Funding available till 30 September 2016 Ref: MBP00951 At Leicester we re ging places. Ranked in the tp 20 universities in Britain ur aim is t climb further. A cmmitment t high quality fused with an inclusive academic culture is ur hallmark and led the Times Higher Educatin t describe us as elite withut being elitist. Yur rle will be t wrk in the Cardivascular Genetics grup within the Department f Cardivascular Sciences t undertake research int the understanding f crnary artery disease genes as part f an EU FP7 internatinal cnsrtium. The rle will invlve the use f transgenic muse mdels t study the effect f candidate genes n develpment and prgressin f athersclersis, utilising bth new technlgies (MRI and ultrasund within the recently built Central Research Facility) and mre traditinal methds f phentypic analysis including histlgical, cellular and mlecular techniques. The University There s never been a mre exciting time t jin us. At the University f Leicester we are enjying research success n a wrld stage and gathering the awards and plaudits t match. We are described as elite withut being elitist. We are prud t be elite. But we are at least as prud t be an inclusive and prgressive university. This cmmitment t high quality, an inclusive academic culture and belief in the synergy f teaching and research are ur hallmarks. We believe that teaching is inspiratinal when delivered by passinate schlars engaged in wrld-changing research that is delivered in an academic cmmunity that includes pstgraduate as well as undergraduate students. Our apprach t research yields great rewards. Our research impact, measured by citatins per academic, is ranked in the UK tp 10. Our success in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise saw Quality Related research incme rise by 18% placing us firmly amngst Britain s tp 20 research universities by this measure. The RAE als revealed that Leicester is hme t Britain s tp-rated research department Museum Studies which has the highest cncentratin f wrld class research f any department f any discipline in the UK. We believe that teaching and research are synergistic, and the Natinal Student Survey demnstrates that the quality f ur teaching is amngst the highest in the cuntry. Since the launch f the survey in 2005, Leicester has cnsistently featured amngst the tp-10 universities in England

2 fr student satisfactin. The Sunday Times described Leicester as "tp... amngst mainstream multifaculty universities fr student satisfactin". Currently a University f 23,000 students, with a turnver in excess f 260m and 3,300 clleagues, ur future is bright. Our Strategic Visin describes ur plans t invest a billin punds in ur estate as we transfrm ur campus. Ranked 13 th ut f 120 universities by the Guardian, by 2015 we aim t rise further t becme tp-10. Leicester is the mst inclusive f Britain s tp-20 universities with the greatest prprtins f students frm under-represented grups. As a grup f talented individuals we are mre diverse than ever and strnger fr it. At Leicester we are prud f ur distinct apprach, ur achievements and ur ambitius plans. If yu share ur apprach jin us. Please see fr mre infrmatin abut the University. We are prud hlders f the Athena Swan Brnze Award which recgnises and celebrates gd practice fr emplyment in science, engineering and technlgy (SET) in higher educatin and research. The award reflects ur cmmitment t the advancement and prmtin f diversity and equality. We are actively seeking Silver and Gld awards. Cllege f Medicine, Bilgical Sciences and Psychlgy Pr-Vice-Chancellr & Head f Cllege: Prfessr David Wynfrd-Thmas FMedSci The Cllege s missin is t pursue the highest standards f research, educatin and training in bimedical and related subjects, and t apply this knwledge and expertise t enhance the quality f life and ecnmic prsperity f ppulatins, bth lcally and in the wider wrld. Its cnsiderable academic resurces mean that it is already widely recgnised fr the internatinal impact f its research and the quality f its undergraduate and pstgraduate teaching. This is reflected in the high prprtin f academic staff regarded as internatinal in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, and the cnsistently high ratings achieved in the Natinal Student Survey. This is an exciting time t jin a dynamic new academic enterprise and cntribute t its develpment. The new Cllege is creating the academic and physical envirnment t enable scientists and clinicians t wrk tgether acrss traditinal bundaries t address sme f the key utstanding questins in bimedical research and t engage with increasing effectiveness with cmmercial and public bdies. The Cllege brings tgether 10 departments: Bichemistry, Bilgy, Cancer Studies and Mlecular Medicine, Cardivascular Sciences, Cell Physilgy and Pharmaclgy, Genetics, Health Sciences, Infectin, Immunity and Inflammatin, Medical and Scial Care Educatin and Psychlgy. In additin the University hsts the MRC Txiclgy Unit, with which there is clse cllabratin. Building n existing strengths, multi-disciplinary research themes have been develped t explit synergies between basic science, clinical medicine and psychlgy in the Cllege. These themes are in the fields f genme science; mlecular & cellular biscience; cancer; cardivascular sciences; respiratry science; micrbial science; neurscience and behaviur; and ppulatin science. A further theme is explring the research which underpins teaching & learning. ( The Cllege has apprximately 295 academic staff and 718 research, administrative and ther staff, with a ttal f apprximately 2,350 fte undergraduate students and 850 pstgraduates. It has an annual turnver f 64M. University f Leicester 2 16 Octber 2013

3 Department f Cardivascular Sciences Head: Prfessr N J Samani BSc, MD, FRCP, FACC, FMedSci, DL Cardivascular research has been a majr strength f the Leicester Medical Schl since its inceptin. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), 95% f the cardivascular research in Leicester was cnsidered t be f internatinal level, ver half the submitted utputs ranked as utstanding r excellent and ne in seven f the submitted research utputs ranked as wrldleading. The Department f Cardivascular Sciences undertakes research ranging frm mlecular and cellular studies, all the way thrugh translatinal research and int clinical studies. The strng links with the NHS were highlighted in the RAE. This has been further recgnised by the award f a Natinal Institute f Health Research (NIHR) Bimedical Research Unit (BRU) in Cardivascular Disease t a partnership f the University Hspitals f Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) and the University f Leicester, which has recently been renewed fr a further 5 years frm April In additin the Department versees an NIHR Clinical Research Netwrk in Strke (Clinical Lead: Prfessr TG Rbinsn). The Department has strng links with the British Heart Fundatin (BHF). It hlds tw BHF Chairs: ne in Cardilgy (Prfessr NJ Samani) and ne in Cardiac Surgery (Prfessr G Murphy). In additin the BHF have been the majr spnsr f the new 12.5 millin BHF Cardivascular Research Centre in Glenfield Hspital. Majr areas f research in the Department include: cardivascular genetics, vascular bilgy, hypertensin and vascular damage, thrmbsis and haemstasis, crnary artery disease, heart failure, strke and barreceptr regulatin, cardiac arrhythmias, cartid and peripheral vascular disease, mycardial prtectin and regeneratin, bimarkers and diagnstics. The Department is rganised int three principal Research Themes t mirrr cardivascular subthemes in the Cllege. These are: Cardivascular Genmics and Prtemics (Academic members: Prfessr NJ Samani, Prfessr L Ng, Dr M Tmaszewski, Mr M Bwn, Dr D Jnes, Dr N Chng, Dr D Ldwick, Dr T Webb, Dr E Stringer, Dr V Cdd) Cardivascular Cell Bilgy and Signalling (Prfessr A Gdall, Prfessr N Brindle, Prfessr D Lambert, Dr C Erridge, Dr K Herbert, Dr R Rainbw, Dr J Thmpsn, Dr G Rdrig) Cardivascular Physilgy and Clinical Trials (Prfessr T Rbinsn, Prfessr G Murphy, Prfessr AR Naylr, Prfessr R Panerai, Prfessr R Sayers, Prfessr T Cats, Prfessr AH Gershlick, Prfessr I Squire, Prfessr T Spyt, Prfessr GA Ng, Dr G McCann, Dr W Tff, Mr E Chke, Dr M Hrsfield, Dr E Chung, Dr J Davies, Dr J Kvac, Dr D Chin) Fr clinical interactins and identity, academic staff are als gruped under several clinical research grupings, including cardilgy, cardiac surgery, emergency medicine, hypertensin, medical physics, pharmaclgy and therapeutics, strke medicine and vascular surgery. The Department als hsts an Ophthalmlgy research grup (Prfessr I Gttlb, Dr F Prudlck). The Department has clse cllabratins with academic staff lcated in ther Departments in the Cllege, ntably Health Sciences, Cell Physilgy and Pharmaclgy, Genetics and elsewhere in the University including Engineering and Physics. There are strng links with clinical staff in UHL, several f whm have extensive research prgrammes and hld hnrary psitins in the Department up t Chair level. Members f the Department als have extensive cllabratins with natinal and internatinal partners including Industry. The Department currently ccupies excellent accmmdatin in the Clinical Sciences Wing in Glenfield Hspital and the Rbert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building at the Leicester Ryal Infirmary University f Leicester 3 16 Octber 2013

4 (LRI). Cnstructin f a new 12.5 millin Cardivascular Research Centre at Glenfield has recently been cmpleted. This prvides an additinal 2,200m facility including a bibank capable f string samples frm up t 100,000 individuals, a clinical research infrmatics unit and a data t knwledge unit, which tgether captures, cdes and translates annymus patient data fr research and accmmdates an advanced IT link between the University and hspital. Backgrund t the Prject and Pst Cardivascular diseases (crnary artery disease (CAD) and strke) are the cmmnest cause f premature death and disability in the wrld. Disease is caused by a cmbinatin f lifestyle, envirnmental and genetic factrs. Our grup has been at the frefrnt f the genetic discvery prgramme thrugh large-scale genme-wide assciatin studies t identify genetic variants that affect disease risk; t date we have identified mre than 46 lci that cntribute t CAD (Nature 2007; 447: ; NEJM 2007; 357: ; Nat Genet 2011; 43: ; Nat Genet 2013; 45:25-33). An imprtant bservatin frm these studies has been that the majrity f lci d nt wrk thrugh knwn risk factrs suggesting that nvel and hithert unsuspected pathways that lead t disease are yet t be discvered. Understanding these mechanisms may translate int develpment f new treatments. In cllabratin with 11 ther scientific teams (5 academic and 6 SME), we have been awarded EU FP7-HEALTH-2013-INNOVATION funding t explit large-scale OMICs datasets (e.g. GWAS, exme sequencing) t identify therapeutic targets fr CAD and strke. The advertised psitin is funded as part f the EU FP7 award. The principal task f the pst-hlder will be t cntribute t this research thrugh the develpment and characterisatin f relevant in viv mdels. Yur Rle Yur rle will be t wrk in the Cardivascular Genetics grup within the Department f Cardivascular Sciences t undertake research int the understanding f crnary artery disease genes as part f an EU FP7 internatinal cnsrtium. The rle will invlve the use f transgenic muse mdels t study the effect f candidate genes n develpment and prgressin f athersclersis, utilising bth new technlgies (MRI and ultrasund within the recently built Central Research Facility) and mre traditinal methds f phentypic analysis including histlgical, cellular and mlecular techniques. Principal Accuntabilities The pst-hlder will plan and carry ut the wrk prgramme under the guidance f the PI. They will cntribute t the verall research prgramme using innvative research mdels and appraches. Specific research activities: the pst-hlder will be expected t: Liaise with cllabratrs in the University f Leicester and in ther research centres t ensure the smth prgressin f research prjects; Be flexible t the changing pririties f the research prgram; Priritise tasks within agreed wrk schedules; Be prepared t adapt weekly plans t accmmdate new develpments (recgnising that research is nt always predictable); Plan several mnths ahead t meet deadlines fr jurnal publicatins and t prepare abstracts and presentatins fr cnferences; Organise data and results s that they are easily accessible t clleagues; Carefully mnitr and check results; University f Leicester 4 16 Octber 2013

5 Cntribute, as a junir partner, t the authrship f research papers; Write up research findings, assessing utcmes and ptins; Make specific cntributins t written reprts and grant applicatins; Advise staff and students within wn specific area f expertise; Attend team meetings and ther relevant meetings; The pst-hlder will als be expected t: Supervise the practical wrk f students; Engage in relevant prfessinal activities and in cntinuus prfessinal develpment; Qualificatins, Knwledge and Experience Essential Desirable Degree in a subject relevant t research subject.* Experience f wrking with in viv mdels.* Experience f tissue dissectin and histlgical techniques.* Experience in brightfield and flurescent micrscpy. Ability t prduce accurate labratry data suitable fr publicatin. Supervisry experience. Depth r breadth f knwledge in a particular area f technical expertise and be recgnised as a technical expert in this area. Evidence f research activity (such as invlvement in research publicatins). Hlder f a Hme Office Persnal Licence. Experience f in viv live imaging. Gd wrking knwledge f image analysis sftware and statistical packages. Experience f fine dissectin. Experience f mlecular and cellular techniques. Skills, Abilities and Cmpetencies Essential Expertise with relevant ffice and ther sftware packages. Well-develped understanding f Health and Safety regulatins and prcedures. High level f prficiency in English, sufficient t undertake research, teaching and administrative activities utilising English Language materials and t cmmunicate effectively with staff and students (* Criteria t be used in shrtlisting candidates fr interview) University f Leicester 5 16 Octber 2013

6 Infrmal Enquiries Infrmal enquiries are welcme and shuld be made t Prfessr Nilesh Samani n njs@le.ac.uk r Applicatins Fr further infrmatin and t apply n-line, please visit ur website: The clsing date fr this pst is midnight n 13 Nvember 2013 Candidates shrt-listed fr interview will be cntacted by the University. If yu d nt receive a cmmunicatin frm the University within 4 weeks f the clsing date, please assume that yur applicatin has been unsuccessful. University f Leicester 6 16 Octber 2013