Research Associate at Imperial College London

Job Summary

Aneuploidy, or an abnormal and unbalanced chromosome number, is considered the leading cause of pregnancy loss and congenital disorders. However, the mechanisms by which aneuploidies affect the human embryo are not well known. This project will use human pluripotent stem cell models to investigate the impact of different types of aneuploidies on early human development. The appointed post-doctoral research associate will be working in the group led by Prof. Tristan Rodriguez (Imperial College London), in collaboration with Prof. Ivana Barbaric (Sheffield University). The project will use human pluripotent stem cell models with gain/loss of specific chromosomes to establish the effects that aneuploidy have on pluripotency, and on the ability of stem cells to differentiate and generate spatially patterned tissues. There is increasing evidence that self-correction mechanisms can eliminate aneuploid cells in mosaic tissues (reviewed in Nichols, Lima and Rodriguez, Cell Stem Cell 2022), and recent work by the Rodriguez lab and Barbaric labs have implicated cell competition (Lima et al., Nature Metabolism. 2021; Price et al., Developmental Cell 2021; Pernaute et al., Developmental Cell 2022). The project will therefore also investigate the importance of cell stress in the selection of aneuploid cells and identify the cell-to-cell signalling pathways that govern this selection. The ultimate aim of the project is to develop new predictive tools to identify and remove aneuploid cells during pregnancy. The project will use a variety of state-of-the-art cell biology and molecular approaches, combining metabolic, super-resolution imaging, single cell transcriptional profiling and functional analyses in human and pluripotent stem cells to address these questions.

Duties and responsibilities

• To take initiatives in the planning of research
• To direct the work of small research teams
• To identify and develop suitable techniques, and apparatus, for the collection and analysis of data
• To conduct data analysis
• To ensure the validity and reliability of data at all times
• To maintain accurate and complete records of all findings
• To write reports for submission to research sponsors
• To present findings to colleagues and at conferences
• To submit publications to refereed journals
• To provide guidance to staff and students
• To attend relevant workshops and conferences as necessary
• To develop contacts and research collaborations within the College and the wider community
• To promote the reputation of the Group, the Department and the College
• Contribute to writing bids for research grants
• To conduct and plan own scientific work with appropriate supervision.

Essential requirements

Research Associate: Hold a PhD (or equivalent) in Stem Cell Biology, Developmental Biology or a closely related discipline, or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience.