"Research Assistant/Associate in CF"

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

Salary

Research Assistant: £32,546 - £33,482.

Research Associate: £35,116 - £45,413.

The Role

This post is funded by a CF Trust (UK) Strategic Research Centre (SRC) award: https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk/news/cystic-fibrosis-trust-pledge-over-ps2m-to-address-research-priorities-of-people-with-cf).

You will carry out cutting-edge discovery research at the crossroads between basic and translational research. The supervisory and wider collaborative teams encompass cross-disciplinary expertise from the host institution at Newcastle University and three other major EU research centres based in Utrecht, Lisbon and Genoa.

During this project you will:

• Gain valuable experience in the production of fully differentiated primary human airway models derived from people with CF.
• Use these CF airway models for pre-clinical testing of novel PTC acting chemicals using highly relevant functional techniques.
• Gain expertise in a wide range of in vitro cell physiological, molecular, and biochemical techniques.
• Be part of an international consortium of researchers dedicated to the project.

This position also offers the opportunity to gain valuable additional research experience through a lab visit to Prof Rob Taran's group based at Kansas University Medical School (USA) for up to a month. Here they will learn how to make dynamic measurements of airway mucus rheology by microscopy.

You will be integrated into the research team of Dr Michael Gray (Biosciences Institute, grant coordinator) and Clinical teams of Dr Malcolm Brodlie and Dr Iram Haq (Translational & Clinical Research Institute).

Title of Project: PTSuppress: Novel lead compounds as potential suppressor drugs for CFTR PTC mutations.

There are no available therapies for the ~8.4% of CFTR gene variants which introduce Premature Termination Codons (PTCs), leading to: 1) a truncated, non-functional, CFTR protein; and 2) a significant reduction in mRNA levels via Nonsense-Mediated Decay (NMD). Despite ongoing efforts, there is an unmet need for the fast discovery of novel strategies to rescue PTCs. We have identified 10 lead compounds that provide PTC correction by PTC readthrough, NMD inhibition, or both. Through an integrated programme of medicinal chemistry and further screening, PTSuppress will optimise these lead compounds and repurpose already approved drugs. Ultimately, we will validate the best compounds/drugs/combinations (also with known CFTR modulators) in patient-derived epithelial models with different PTC variants to maximise efficacy for synergy amongst the best compounds/combinations for further development.

The final objective of PTSuppress is to identify novel compound(s) of high therapeutic potential as future drug(s) for the benefit of pwCF bearing PTCs.

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/.

Find out more about our Research Institutes here: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/medical-sciences/research/institutes/.

This position is available for the duration of 3 years.

For all informal enquires please contact Mike Gray - m.a.gray@ncl.ac.uk.