Research Fellow

About the job:

The postholder will deliver the exciting project funded by UK Medical Research Council which involves process development of extracellular vesicles-based therapy manufacturing as well as mechanistic studies at the research group led by Dr Anna D Krasnodembskaya at the Wellcome Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine.


The successful candidate will work as part of a research programme that is developing Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSC) derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) as novel therapy for the treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). The main purpose of this project is to develop and optimise a scalable process of isolation of a specific EV fraction using bioreactor system and to demonstrate therapeutic usefulness of the resultant EV product and established mechanism of action in the in vitro models of ARDS. This project is milestones-driven so strict adherence to deadlines is essential. The successful applicant is expected to lead this ambitious cutting edge research project and will be involved with supervision, planning, day-to-day lab management, collaborations and outreach.



Applications are invited from enthusiastic, highly motivated, efficient and organised individuals with a strong commitment to a career in research and development.



This is a 21 months post funded by UK Medical Research Council.



Further information can be found here.



About the person:


The successful candidate must have, and your application should clearly demonstrate that you meet the following criteria:
1. Hold or be about to obtain a relevant PhD* in a biomedical field of laboratory-based research e.g cell therapy/extracellular vesicle therapy development, respiratory biology, biochemistry, or cell biology (*must have within 3 months of commencement of employment).
2. Relevant, recent research experience in cell therapy/extracellular vesicle therapy development, respiratory biology, biochemistry, or cell biology.
3. Extensive previous hands-on experience in at least 3 of the following:
* MSC extracellular vesicles' (isolation, characterisation, functional assessment).
* Bioreactor cultures, biological product purification/concentration processes, TFF, size-exclusion chromatography.
* Primary human pulmonary epithelial, endothelial and monocyte derived macrophages culture.
* Assays to evaluate mitochondrial biology/functionality. Modern cellular and molecular biology methods: mammalian cell transfection, real time qPCR, Western blotting, multi-colour flow cytometry/cell sorting, immunohistochemistry, bioimaging (fluorescent, confocal/electron microscopy).
4. Reports, manuscript and abstract writing experience.
5. Recent high-quality original research publications in reputable peer-reviewed journals, commensurate with career stage.


To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information.



What we offer:


Beyond a competitive salary, the University offers an attractive benefits package including a holiday entitlement of up to 8.4 weeks a year, pension schemes and development opportunities. We support staff wellbeing with flexible working options, work-life balance initiatives and support for physical and mental health. You can find more detail on all of this and more at http://go.qub.ac.uk/reward


Queen's University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena Swan and have established staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality.



For further information on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please click here.



Informal queries to Professor Mei Chen: [email protected]



Candidate Information



Further Information for International Applicants