Senior Research Assistant in Biosciences
This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.
Job Description
ABOUT THE ROLE
Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, you will support the Investigators in delivery of research activities for the "ISOS-Implantable Ecosystems of Genetically Modified Bacteria for the Personalized Treatment of Patients with Chronic Diseases" project. We are seeking a highly committed, motivated, and creative scientist to join the research team on this new EU funded €3M project. The project is in collaboration with a consortium consisting of universities, research institutes and companies from Spain, Germany and Greece. The Northumbria team will deliver a engineered living system for personalised treatment of patients with chronic disease by 1) engineering model bacterial chassis to produce recombinant antibodies on demand; 2) engineering auxotrophic bacterial strains to address biosafety concerns and 3) engineering non-model ocular residential strains of bacteria to achieve similar functionalities as the model bacteria.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
In ISOS we propose to develop the first biomedical product for the in-situ fabrication and auto-renewed delivery of therapeutic compounds employing complex ecosystems of probiotic genetically engineered bacteria (GEB) integrated in a biomaterial-based bioreactor. ISOS is designed to treat chronic diseases requiring lengthy treatments. The encapsulated GEB populations produce the therapeutic molecules "on demand", stimulated by the signals of the pathological environment within the patient, i.e., inflammation and/or reactive oxygen species. Bacteria populations interact to maintain a dynamic equilibrium of GEB species and to guarantee the survival of the drug-producing GEB as long as the disease persists. The GEB ecosystem is designed in such a way that bacteria cannot survive outside of the encapsulating biomaterial, to meet future biosafety and regulatory requirements. The design and the configuration of the GEB ecosystem will be personalized for each patient, and it will be done using in-silico tools and synthetic biology. As a Proof-of-Concept, we propose to engineer an implantable GEB-based bioreactor for the treatment of wet form age-related macular degeneration (wAMD), which is caused by an abnormal production of Vascular Endothelial Growth factor (VEGF). This Proof-of-Concept will demonstrate the ability of ISOS to replace the repeated intraocular injections of Anti-VEGF molecules (current treatment) with a single ISOS bioreactor that will enhance the therapeutic response and minimize side effects due the molecular crosstalk between ISOS and the pathological environment. ISOS will establish the principles of a new generation of therapeutic products that will use recombinant probiotic bacteria strains libraries for personalized treatments with rigorous control of local drug production and efficient delivery based of dynamic variation of pathological signals.
ABOUT THE TEAM
This research project will be delivered within the Living Construction research group in Northumbria University. Living Construction group is one of research groups in the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE, www.bbe.ac.uk), which focuses on the production of functional materials through biological fabrication processes. One key area of research is the exploration of the engineered living materials for a wide range of applications including the construction, fashion and biomedicine.
This project will be based in the HBBE labs in the Department of Applied Sciences at Northumbria University (https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/academic-departments/applied-scie...).
ABOUT YOU
Applicants should hold a PhD in synthetic biology, molecular biology, biochemistry or related subject. The expertise in recombinant protein production, biomaterials and biofabriation is desirable. You should be able to work independently and as part of a team, and also possess multitasking abilities. Excellent communication (written and oral) and organisation skills are essential, and evidence in initiating and delivery scientific publication is required.
Further information about the requirements of the role is available in the person specification.
If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Prof Meng Zhang (meng.zhang@northumbria.ac.uk) and/or Dr Paul James (paul.b.c.james@northumbria.ac.uk)
ABOUT US
Northumbria University is a research-intensive university that unlocks potential for all. We change lives regionally, nationally, and internationally through education and research, tackling the global challenges of our age to transform society and the economy. Find out why we were named Times Higher Education's University of the Year in 2022 and Modern University of the Year in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.
Northumbria recorded the biggest rise of any UK university for research power in the Research Excellence Framework for the second time in 2021 and is now ranked top 25 in the UK for this measure.
One of the largest universities in the UK with over 37,000 students from more than 140 countries, filled with world-leading research, award-winning partnerships, and students at the heart of an outstanding experience. Discover more about us.
Northumbria University is a great place to work. We empower our exceptional people to achieve shared ambitions and promote a positive work life balance. We offer a wide range of benefits including excellent pension schemes, flexible working, a generous holiday entitlement, continued commitment to your learning and development and more.
Our Northumbria Values are guiding principles that define who we are, what we do and what is important to us. Our Values are: Academic Excellence; Innovation; Inclusivity; Collaboration; and Ambition.
Our Behaviours describe how we do things and how we work together at Northumbria, reflecting our culture and our decision-making. Our Behaviours are: We listen and learn, we support one another to success, we respect everyone and their contributions, we trust in ourselves and each other and we are bold.
Our Values and Behaviours were co-created by colleagues from a range of roles across the University, who worked collaboratively to consider what it feels like to work for Northumbria, and where we need to continue to transform together to achieve what's important to us.
Please visit Our Values and Behaviours page to find out more.
We are an on-campus organisation where colleagues work regular patterns of hours and on campus, with some flexibility on the timing of their hours and the location of their work in discussion with their manager. Our campus locations include our City and Coach Lane Campuses in Newcastle upon Tyne and our London campus.
Northumbria University is committed to creating an inclusive culture where we take pride in, and value, the diversity of our staff. We encourage and welcome applications from all members of the community. The University holds bronze Athena Swan and Race Equality Charter awards in recognition of our commitment to advancing gender and race equality, we are a Disability Confident Leader and are participating in the Stonewall Diversity Champion Programme. We also hold the HR Excellence in Research award for implementing the concordat supporting the career Development of Researchers and are members of the Euraxess initiative to deliver information and support to professional researchers. The University has implemented a range of flexible working arrangements, and we are happy to explore candidate requirements as part of the recruitment process.
We are committed to keeping your data safe so it's important for you to know how we use any personal data you give us. For more detailed information, access our Privacy Policy.