Research Associate/Fellow (Brain Cancer Research/Genome Engineering) (MED114917)

The project aligns with a recently awarded Brain Tumour Charity New Ideas grant embracing cross-disciplinary collaborations (genome engineering and molecular neuro-oncology) to apply cutting-edge technological innovation to help identify novel therapy targets that may expedite new chemotherapeutic treatments for childhood ependymoma patients.  The most common oncogenic event in supratentorial ependymomas is the fusion of RELA, the main downstream effector of NfkB signalling with a gene of unknown function, C11orf95, through a translocation event. Investigating the mechanistic effects of these translocations may help to develop novel patient-targeted therapies. We will use light-driven CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats)-associated catalytically inactive dCas9 (nuclease dead Cas9 mutated at D10A;H840A) protein to modulate the genetic pathways that regulate transcription of the endogenous C11orf95-RELA fusion gene, revealing important functional insights into the C11orf95-RELA fusion.

Principal Objectives include:

Developing optogenetic dCas9 constructs to target C11orf95-RELA fusion in established ependymoma cell lines (molecular biology and genetic engineering) Characterisation and gene expression profiling in dCas9-targeted cell lines (cellular assays and sequencing/bioinformatics)

The person appointed will be expected to plan and conduct work using approaches or methodologies and techniques appropriate to the type of research, and will be responsible for writing up their work for publication. The person appointed will have the opportunity to use their initiative and creativity to identify areas for research, develop research methods and extend their research portfolio.

The appointed role holder will work with a diverse multi-expertise team of neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, analytical bio-scientists, chemists, molecular biologists and stem cell biologists at the University of Nottingham and Keele University. This will allow the appointee to explore career prospects within the institutes while developing innovative skills during the course of the project. The person appointed will further develop research relationships between the two sites. The primary site of work will be Keele University with minimal travel to the University of Nottingham.

This full-time post is fixed-term for a period of 12 months.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr. Ruman Rahman, Assistant Professor of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, tel:0115 8230993 or email ruman.rahman@nottingham.ac.uk. Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted.

Closing Date: 16 Jun 2017
Category: Research and Teaching (R&T)