英国惠康基金会桑格研究所哮喘研究相关博士后职位招聘

Postdoctoral Fellow – Discovery of immune cells and molecules involved in asthma

Salary range: £30202 to £37860 per annum plus excellent benefits

Fixed-term for 3 years

A postdoctoral position is available for a talented and ambitious researcher to join an interdisciplinary team of drug discovery scientists, clinicians and bioinformaticians spanning the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), to identify the immune cells and molecules involved in asthma remission using single-cell RNA sequencing technologies.

The WTSI is world-leading in single cell genomics technologies, ignited by the Sanger-EBI Single Cell Genomics Centre (https://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/projects/singlecellcentre/), and soon to be strengthened by the nascent Single Cell Genomics Core Facility. The EMBL-EBI is an internationally leading centre for bioinformatics and computational biology, including single cell transcriptomic data analysis. Finally GSK has a strong focus on asthma, with a dedicated Discovery Performance Unit (DPU), which is focused on discovering innovative medicines for patients with asthma.

This project is funded by the Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation (CTTV), a recently established pioneering public-private initiative between GSK, EMBL-EBI and the WTSI, located on the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus in Hinxton, near Cambridge, UK (http://www.targetvalidation.org/). The CTTV aims to generate evidence on the biological validity of therapeutic targets and provide an initial assessment of the likely effectiveness of pharmacological intervention on these targets, using genome-scale experiments and analysis. The CTTV aims to provide an R&D framework that applies to all aspects of human disease, and to share its data openly with the scientific community. The goal of the CTTV is to harness the power of ‘big data’ and genome sequencing to improve the success rate for discovering new medicines and share its data openly in the interests of accelerating drug discovery.
This is a unique and exciting opportunity to work in a project team comprising Dr Sarah Teichmann at the WTSI (https://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/faculty/steichmann/), Prof. Dirkje Postma at University of Groningen and the Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD, Netherlands (http://www.rug.nl/staff/d.s.postma/research), and senior scientists at the Allergic Inflammation DPU at GSK. The successful candidate will be based at the WTSI, within Dr Sarah Teichmann’s laboratory, however they will be expected to spend periods of time working with computational biologists at the EBI and liaising with the research groups at GSK Stevenage nearby, and with the group in Groningen, Netherlands.

Since the post holder will be responsible for driving this project and for liaising with other members of the project team, he/she should be able to work independently, accurately judge priorities, and have excellent organisational, communication and leadership skills. The Postdoctoral Fellow will be expected to share progress and findings with the project team and will benefit from their support, expertise and advice.

Essential Skills
• PhD in a relevant subject area e.g. genetics, genomics, molecular biology.
• Previous experience in assessing gene function using molecular biology, biochemistry, in vivo and in vitro techniques.
• High self-motivation and critical thinking skills.
• Ability to communicate ideas and results effectively.
• Ability to work independently and organise own workload.
• Good written and spoken English.
• The ability to effectively communicate with collaborators and occasionally present research to large groups.
• Proven independent working style, problem solving, data analysis and generation of novel ideas.

Ideal Skills
• Previous experience with human genetics data e.g. analysis of data from next-generation sequencing assays, especially RNA-seq, or strong interest in computational methods of analysis.
• Statistical skills (significance tests, statistical distributions, fitting of statistical models).
• Ability to integrate genomic and bioinformatics datasets to annotate genetic findings.
• Interest in/knowledge of airway disease.
• Strong publication record.

Other information
The Genome Campus is a 100-acre estate south of Cambridge in the grounds of Hinxton Hall. Nestled in the quiet countryside of these landscaped gardens, are two world-class research facilities: the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI). The site has become the British hub of biomedical science. The Campus is also home to the Wellcome Trust Advanced Course and Scientific Conferences programme and the Wellcome Trust Conference Centre.

In addition to its peaceful location the campus offers excellent facilities including a start of the art data centre, gym, two cafes, a nursery, dining facilities, a cycle to work scheme, car sharing and free campus buses from various locations around Cambridge.
Learning, development and networking are other important aspects of life on campus. There are a range of scientific seminars with our own and invited speakers, scientific group meetings and skills development workshops.

Our Benefits include: Defined Benefit Pension Scheme, Group Income Protection, Healthcare scheme, Childcare Vouchers and Annual Leave 25 days plus Bank Holidays.

Please provide a CV and cover letter.

Closing date: 7th June 2015 with interviews being held the week commencing the 22nd June.