Join us

Applications are invited for a 3.5-year PhD studentship supported by the Edmond J. Safra Foundation to join the group of Dr Nurun Fancy in the Department of Brain Sciences, for a project to study: The role of LRRK2 in cellular senescence in Parkinson’s Disease.
The project is based at Imperial’s White City Campus. The candidate will be under the supervision of Dr Nurun Fancy, Edmond and Lily Safra Fellow in the Department of Brain Sciences and will benefit from an active and engaged postgraduate community at Imperial.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurological condition manifested by a range of motor symptoms such as tremors, rigidity, and slowed movement as well as non-motor symptoms including cognitive and mood disorders, pain, and sleep disturbances. Currently, more than 145,000 people in the UK are living with PD, and this number is expected to increase by 50% by 2050. Around one-third of individuals with PD develop Parkinson’s-related dementia.
Age is the greatest risk factor for Parkinson’s, meaning that as life expectancy increases, the prevalence and incidence of PD will also rise, placing a significant economic and social burden on healthcare systems and society. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for PD. However, recent advancements in high-dimensional imaging and high-throughput omics techniques at the single-cell level present an opportunity to explore the underlying biology of PD in unprecedented detail. By leveraging these technologies, we can drive transformative breakthroughs in therapeutic approaches, ultimately bringing us closer to effective treatments.
The Project
The role of LRRK2 in cellular senescence in Parkinson’s disease
This PhD project will investigate the role of LRRK2 in microglial senescence in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). The candidate will explore how αSyn-induced dysregulation of LRRK2 expression leads to microglial senescence. To achieve this, the candidate will use advanced high-throughput imaging techniques in human postmortem brain, and genetic and pharmacological interventions in human iPSC-derived microglia-like cells. Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) will be utilised to map the spatial relationships between αSyn, LRRK2, and senescence markers in human postmortem brain tissue. Human iPSC-derived microglia will be used to establish the causal role of LRRK2 activity in promoting senescence through targeted genetic manipulation and pharmacological inhibition. These studies will identify molecular pathways that may serve as therapeutic targets, laying the foundation for future investigations into senolytic interventions to mitigate αSyn-induced cellular senescence and neurodegeneration.
Studentship details and application process
The studentship provides a tax-free annual bursary at the UKRI rate (currently £21,237 for 2024/25 entry) and tuition fees at the UK/Home rate. You will benefit from membership of the Graduate School and an active early career research community. Applicants should hold a First Class or an Upper Second-Class degree (or equivalent overseas qualification) in biological science, such as neuroscience. A Master’s degree in a related field, such as neuroscience or computational neuroscience is desirable but not essential. Prior experience in wet-lab biology and data analysis skills (using a programming language such as R, Python etc.) are highly desirable. Applicants must also meet Imperial College’s English language requirements – further details can be found at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/apply/requirements/english/
To apply for this studentship, please send a full CV, a brief statement outlining your research interests and motivation and contact details for two academic referees to n.fancy@imperial.ac.uk. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview within two weeks after the closing date. We regret that due to the large volume of applications received, we are only able to notify those shortlisted for interview. Funding is in place for this project and the studentship may begin immediately.

About the role

Applications are invited for a Research Technician in the UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial, within the Neurogenomics Lab of Dr Nathan Skene, Department of Brain Sciences (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/n.skene). 

Today, over 1 million people in the UK are living with dementia and related neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. The impact of these incurable and progressive conditions on individuals and their families is devastating. The cost to the economy and public services is large and growing as the UK population ages.

The UK DRI is a globally leading multidisciplinary research institute of over 900 staff investigating the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders causing dementia, driving a step change in our understanding of neurodegeneration, and accelerating the discovery, development and delivery of interventions that will help diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent dementia.

We are recruiting a Research Technician to provide technical support within the Skene Lab to one or more projects including combinatorial padlock-probe-amplified fluorescence in situ hybridization (coppaFISH). This is a method that amplifies a selected panel of RNA transcripts in situ using barcoded padlock probes and reads out their barcodes combinatorially through multiple rounds of seven-colour fluorescence imaging. The beauty of this method for Parkinson’s disease research is that it will enable us to simultaneously identify the cell type identity of every cell within a tissue section at a low cost. This will enable disease neuropathology to be done at an unprecedently high throughput, which will in turn transform what we know about Parkinson’s disease.

What you would be doing

Building on laboratory experience and under the direction of the line manager, you will:

• Undertake training and demonstrate an aptitude for an organised, methodical approach to your work.
• Provide up-to-date technical expertise, advice and support for specialised methods appropriate to the research project.
• Select and order situ hybridisation probes for coppaFISH and execute multi-step staining protocols using coppaFISH
• Organise, collect and QC tissue samples
• Run software analysis pipeline for coppaFISH
• Basic methods for molecular biology (PCR, qPCR, Western blotting) of human tissue samples

What we are looking for

You will be dynamic, creative, and independent.  You should be interested in the questions being pursued, as well as performing your work to the highest standards. Experience with running software pipelines and some computational experience will be advantageous. Having experience working with neuropathology and handling of post-mortem samples will be beneficial.  While close supervision will be provided when needed, the post holder also will be given opportunities in areas of expertise and in supervising rotating project students for their technical training.

The Brancaccio Lab invites applications from talented, highly motivated and creative postdoctoral scientists to take a leading role in one of the following projects investigating molecular cellular and circuit mechanisms driving circadian dysfunction in pre-clinical models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

What you would be doing

Project: Leveraging circadian clocks to prevent Alzheimer’s disease

In this project, you will develop new molecular tools modifying circadian pathways to prevent/ delay Alzheimer’s disease. This project stems from newly established mouse models and clock molecular targets identified in the Brancaccio Lab. You will perform viral delivery of gene therapy viral vectors, behavioural assessment of sleep-wake cycles and cognition, multiplexed live imaging in brain tissue, combinatorial intersectional genetics, and multivariate statistical analysis of time series to validate new chronotherapeutic interventions in Alzheimer’s disease. Further experience with analyses of large ‘OMICS dataset and advanced molecular biology tools in addition to stereotaxic brain surgery and live imaging will be an element of significant strength for this position. Previous knowledge of circadian biology is desirable but not strictly necessary.

What we are looking for

• You will be a motivated and organised researcher, excited by the science we do.
• You will hold (or be near completion of) a PhD in neuroscience (or related discipline).
• Experience of one or more laboratory techniques including live imaging microscopy and advanced techniques of molecular biology (e.g., cloning, viral vector design, construction and production, CRISPR/Cas9 and/or RNAi functional interference
• Experience of one or more software packages is essential: MATLAB, ImageJ, SigmaPlot,
• Prism, R, as is experience in statistical analysis.
• Practical experience with RNAseq, RNA scope, and spatial transcriptomic techniques is highly desirable.
• Experience with multivariate statistical analysis of (circadian) time series is highly desirable.