The laboratory of Dr Laura Dearden (https://www.mrl.ims.cam.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/early-career-investigators/laura-dearden/) is seeking a post-doctoral research associate to join a growing research group at the Institute of Metabolic Science. We are interested in understanding how exposure to obesity during pregnancy programs an increased risk of obesity in offspring as they grow up. The research will be focused on understanding the importance of insulin signalling in changes in normal hypothalamic development, using transgenic mouse models, primary neuronal culture techniques and state of the art microscopy techniques for visualizing fetal brain development in vivo and in vitro.
Scientists are encouraged to apply if they have substantial practical experience in the neuroscience of energy balance and metabolism. Applicants should have a background in neuroendocrinology techniques and metabolic phenotyping of rodents. The role holder will be responsible for running their own research projects and will work within a larger group of PhD students, technicians and other post docs.
The major roles associated with the job will include:
-Managing a transgenic mouse colony, and murine phenotyping of food intake behaviour, glucose tolerance and other metabolic parameters
-Performing cell culture, immunohistochemistry, western blotting, RT-PCR and other molecular biology techniques
-Imaging of the fetal brain using confocal and light-sheet microscopy in addition to imaging of neural progenitor cell proliferation in real-time using Opera phenix high content screening system.
Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a basic disclosure (criminal records check) check, a health assessment and a security check.
To apply for this vacancy, you need upload two CVs (Curriculum Vitae) in different formats: a Narrative CV and your standard CV (full details in the Further Particulars).
This vacancy is real. In addition, this vacancy is being studied as part of the Action Research on Research Culture project (ARRC) https://www.arrc.group.cam.ac.uk/.
The ARRC team are investigating the effects of CV format on shortlisting. If you consent to take part in the study, the ARRC team will use information from the shortlisting process to understand the impact of different CV formats. The recruiting academic will not be told whether you have joined the study so your choice about whether to take part in the study cannot influence the decision on who to appoint. Further details can be found in the 'Further Particulars' document. If you have questions about the ARRC project, please contact: arrcproject@admin.cam.ac.uk
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