Postdoctoral Research Associate

Job id: 113065. Salary: £44,355 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance.

Posted: 14 April 2025. Closing date: 05 May 2025.

Business unit: Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine. Department: St John's Institute of Dermatology.

Contact details:Joanna Jackow-Malinowska or Emanule Rognoni. Joanna.jackow@kcl.ac.uk or e.rognoni@qmul.ac.uk

Location: Guy's Campus. Category: Research.

The post will be based on the Guy’s Campus within the School of Basic and Medical Biosciences at St John’s Institute of Dermatology and include a secondment position at the Blizard Institute, QMUL. The candidate will work closely with the principal investigator Dr Joanna Jacków-Malinowska  and in collaboration with Dr Emanuel Rognoni  at QMUL. We will also closely work with Prof John McGrath and Prof Jemima Mellerio, both of whom are world-renowned experts in Epidermolysis Bullosa and will be the key clinical personnel to guide with clinical relevant questions to this project. The postholder also will benefit more broadly from the vast interdisciplinary research and academic networks at King’s College London and QMUL.  

Dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DDEB) is a rare genetic skin disorder leading to severe skin fragility from birth caused by single pathogenic variants in the type VII collagen gene (COL7A1). These defects alter the type VII collagen protein in the skin which normally makes adhesion structures called anchoring fibrils that hold the outer layer (epidermis) and inner layer (dermis) together to prevent blistering. Gene therapy is the only possible cure for these patient to restore skin health long-term. While currently developed gene editing approaches are highly effective in cell culture, a key challenge is the skin targeted delivery in vivo.

This CureEB charity funded project will focus on testing and optimising the gene editing delivery targeting COL7A1 with a lipid nanoparticle system into the skin using a combination of state-of-the-art 3D skin cell culture and in vivo DDEB disease models, carrying equivalent disease causing single nucleoid variants and mimicking key features of the human disease.

The Jacków-Malinowska lab has the opportunity for a full-time 3-year Research associated (post-doctoral) (PDRA) position to join their Molecular and Genome Editing Therapeutics Group at King’s College London.

This is a highly multidisciplinary and collaborative project between four world leading institutions: KCL, QMUL, UCL  and PAN (Poland). The successful candidate will hold a secondment to QUML to work with the DEB model under guidance of Dr Emanuel Rognoni.

Building on extensive previous work from the Jacków-Malinowska lab (Jackow et al., 2019 PNAS; Sheriff et al., 2022 Scie Rep; Guri-Lamce et al., JID 2024; Guir-Lamce et al., BJD 2024), the successful candidate will start performing in vivo testing of gene editing in the DDEB mouse model using lipid nanoparticles previously tested in vitro. We will test different delivery routes of lipid nanoparticles, new formulated lipid nanoparticle compositions, efficiency of epidermal and dermal cell targeting in vivo, and the long-term therapeutic implications for skin homeostasis and wound healing.

Through this preclinical work the PDRA will actively support the clinical translation of our novel gene therapy approach.

This is a fixed term contract until 31st May 2028.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience

Essential criteria

* Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6. 

Desirable criteria

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

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We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

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