Research Fellow in Mitochondrial Medicine

We are now recruiting a postdoctoral scientist to join Professors Spinazzola & Holt’s research group. The team is headed by Profs Spinazzola and Holt, two leaders in the field of mitochondrial medicine, and is located at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. The group is well-funded and has modern multidisciplinary facilities for studying cellular and animal disease models and the group has numerous collaborative research links across the Institute of Neurology, UCL, the UK and internationally. You will work within a programme designed to determine the mechanism of action of compounds that could serve as treatments for mitochondrial diseases.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) dysfunction causes a range of devastating human disorders, for which there is currently no effective treatment. The Spinazzola & Holt group has identified therapeutic strategies to purge cells of deleterious mtDNA molecules (PMID: 34873176; 35478201) or reverse mtDNA loss (PMID: 26760297 and manuscript in preparation). Building on these breakthroughs, the project’s main goals are 1) to determine the effects of small molecules on the cell types and tissues most affected in mitochondrial DNA disorders and to define the metabolic configuration that favours the selection of the functional mtDNAs; 2) to characterize the key molecular features and series of events that lead from mitochondrial dysfunction to organ pathology and disease. The new knowledge will advance the project towards translational medicine studies in human subjects affected by a range of mtDNA disorders.

To this end you will join a renowned research team that employs targeted and omic approaches to investigate patient-derived materials (fibroblasts, stem cell derived models and tissues) and transgenic mice of mitochondrial DNA disorders. You will be expected to evaluate scientific information and data, and to prepare scientific manuscripts, abstracts, posters and oral presentations for national and international meetings. You will liaise with Research Support staff, post-doctoral scientists and students within the group, across the UCL and with external collaborators.