Research Associate

King's College London - Human & Applied Physiological Sciences

About Us

The Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences (CHAPS) is situated within the School of Basic & Medical Biosciences (within the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine), which is led by Professor Mathias Gautel and comprises five departments with a wide range of expertise and interests. Using a bench to bedside approach, the School aims to answer fundamental questions about biology in health and disease and apply this knowledge to the development of new and innovative clinical practise, alongside providing a rigorous academic programme for students.

About the role

Applications are invited for a Research Associate position in the laboratory of Dr Luca Fusi in the Centre for Human and Applied Physiological Sciences. The research in the Fusi Lab is aimed at elucidating the basic molecular mechanisms that control the contractility of striated muscle, with a focus on the regulation of the myosin motors. In the longer term, this understanding is likely to underpin the development and testing of novel pharmacological approaches to rescue skeletal muscle function in ageing and diseases.

The successful candidate will benefit from working in an intellectually vibrant and interdisciplinary environment at the interphase between Physiology and Biophysics. The aim of this project, funded by the MRC, is to elucidate the myosin-based regulation of contractility in slow and fast human skeletal muscle fibres isolated from muscle biopsies from healthy donors and congenital myopathy patients with mutations in sarcomeric proteins. The candidate will use a unique combination of state-of-art biophysical tools, including X-ray diffraction, fluorescence polarisation microscopy and muscle mechanics on human skeletal muscle samples.

This is a full time on campus post (35 hours per week) and you will be offered a fixed term contract until February 2029.

Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro-rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information