About the Role
Full Time
Fixed Term for 12 months
Salary: £ 37,999
Location: MRC Mary Lyon Centre, Harwell, Didcot, OX11 0RD
About the Role
The research technician (funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences) will work together with Dr Daniel Johnson from the Cardiovascular Cluster in the School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences on the RiSCA-AF project. This project will utilize various experimental techniques to unravel mechanisms of atrial fibrillation, with the ultimate aim of designing novel therapeutics.
The post holder’s main responsibility will be to support research and other activities carried out by the academic researchers in the field of cellular cardiac electrophysiology, calcium imaging and cell culture. The post holder will be based at the MRC Mary Lyon Centre in Harwell, where the Open University has laboratory and office space allocated to them.
Key Responsibilities
The key roles and responsibilities include:
- Day to day management of animal colonies and in vivo experiments to include breeding strategies and non-surgical interventions to assess cardiac electrophysiology and cardiac function
- Ensuring compliance with all relevant regulatory and health and safety requirements
- Single cell patch clamping and calcium imaging
- In vitro assays of ion channel abundance and function
- Cell culture and co-culturing of myocytes and adipocytes
- Working with iPSC cardiomyocytes
- Planning and delivery of experiments in line with programme of research
- Training and supervision of other laboratory members in relevant methodologies where you hold expertise
- Communicating research findings to lay and scientific audiences in written, oral, web pages and other media formats
- Participating actively to relevant scientific, laboratory and wider meetings
- Maintaining an exemplary record of experimental data and analysis and ensuring compliance with open research principles and data archival and sharing
- Continue to update knowledge and skills in line with advances in research field
Skills and Experience
Essential Requirements
- Hold at least a Bachelors degree in Biomedical Sciences, Pharmacology or Physiology (with some knowledge of cardiac electrophysiology)
- Hold an active Home Office Personal Licence with surgical procedures and general anaesthesia competencies
- Ability to evaluate and communicate complex interdisciplinary data
- Good communication skills (written, spoken English) and ability to liaise across specialties
- Excellent time management and interpersonal skills
- Flexible approach to dealing with research issues as they arise
- A record of research and/or knowledge exchange that is commensurate to the position
You can find the full job description here
If you would like to discuss this vacancy please email Daniel.johnson@open.ac.uk or Careers@open.ac.uk
To apply for this role please submit your CV with a supporting statement, up to 1,000 words, setting out why you’re interested in this role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the job and person specification.
