West Wing, Level 6, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU Web: www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk | Tel: +44(0)1865 234702 | Email: [email protected] Job description and selection criteria Research Technician in Retinal Gene Therapy and Innate Job title Immunity Division Medical Sciences Department Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences Location John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, OX3 9DU Grade and salary Grade 5: £24,298 - £28,982 p.a. Hours Full time – 36.5 hours per week Fixed-term for 1 year in the first instance, with possibility for Contract type extension Reporting to Kanmin Xue (Academic Clinical Lecturer in Ophthalmology) Vacancy reference 121235 Introduction The University The University of Oxford is a complex and stimulating organisation, which enjoys an international reputation as a world-class centre of excellence in research and teaching. It employs over 11,000 staff and has a student population of over 22,000. Our annual income in 2013/14 was £1,174.4m. Oxford is one of Europe's most innovative and entrepreneurial universities: income from external research contracts exceeds £478.3m p.a., and more than 80 spin-off companies have been created. For more information please visit www.ox.ac.uk/about Medical Sciences Division The Medical Sciences Division is an internationally recognized centre of excellence for biomedical and clinical research and teaching, and the largest academic division in the University of Oxford. World-leading programmes, housed in state-of-the-art facilities, cover the full range of scientific endeavour from the molecule to the population. With our NHS partners we also foster the highest possible standards in patient care. For more information please visit: www.medsci.ox.ac.uk The Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (NDCN) The NDCN, led by Prof Christopher Kennard, was created in November 2010 by a federation of the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, the Department of Clinical Neurology and the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology. The NDCN is one of the largest clinical neuroscience research departments in Europe with a national and international reputation for excellence. The NDCN is based in high-quality research and clinical facilities in the West Wing of the John Radcliffe Hospital, alongside the Department's world-class Oxford Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB) and the Wetherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, and provides the ideal facilities to translate research from bench to bedside. In keeping with the award of NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre status to a partnership between the University Oxford and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, we have developed a highly integrated and interdisciplinary environment in which research, teaching, clinical training and clinical care interact. This enables us to establish new approaches to the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases. To this end the NDCN fosters collaborations worldwide and warmly welcomes visiting scientists, clinical fellows and students. For more information visit: www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk Nuffield Division of Anaesthesics (NDA) NDA is led by Professor Irene Tracey. NDA is committed to the development and maintenance of internationally competitive research programmes in pain and consciousness; respiration and hypoxia; adult and neurointensive care; simulation and human factors training. For more information visit www.nda.ox.ac.uk Division of Clinical Neurology (DCN) DCN is led by Professor Kevin Talbot. DCN is committed to the development of research programs that improve understanding of the nervous system in health and disease. For more information visit www.clneuro.ox.ac.uk Centre for Functional Magnetic resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) FMRIB is led by Professor Heidi Johansen-Berg. FMRIB is an internally recognised human neuroimaging centre housing both 3T and 7T scanners. The Centre has strong programmes of research in MR physics, image analysis and the applications of neuroscience in health and disease. For more information visit www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology (NLO) NLO is led by Professor Russell Foster, who leads the Sleep & Circadian Neuroscience Institute. NLO pursues scientific and clinical research into a range of areas related to vision, the eye and circadian neuroscience. For more information visit www.eye.ox.ac.uk Centre for the Prevention of Stroke & Dementia (CPSD) CPSD is led by Professor Peter Rothwell. The centre carries out research that increases understanding of the causes of cerebrovascular disease. Its aims are to improve prevention of stroke and dementia by earlier diagnosis, more reliable prognostication, and more effective use of existing preventive treatments in routine clinical practice. For more information visit www.ndcn.ox.ac.uk/research/centre-prevention-stroke-dementia 2 Job description Research topic Investigation of innate immunity to gene therapy in the retina Principal Kanmin Xue (Academic Clinical Lecturer in Ophthalmology) Investigator / (within the group of Robert Robert MacLaren, Professor of supervisor Ophthalmology) Clinical Ophthalmology Research Group Research Group (www.eye.ox.ac.uk/research/clinical-ophthalmology-research-group) Neffendorf J, Mota M, Xue K, Hildebrand GD. A safe and efficient pupil dilating regimen for retinopathy of prematurity screening. European Journal of Ophthalmology. 2015;25:249-53. MacLaren RE, Groppe M, Barnard AR, Cottriall CL, Tolmachova T, Seymour L, Clark KR, During MJ, Cremers FP, Black GC, Lotery AJ, Downes SM, Webster AR, Seabra MC. Retinal gene therapy in patients with choroideremia: initial findings from a phase 1/2 clinical trial. Lancet. 2014;383:1129-37. Fung THM, Yusuf IH, Xue K, Smith LM, Patel CK. Heidelberg Spectralis ultra-widefield fundus fluorescein angiography in infants. American Journal of Ophthalmology. 2014;159:78-84.e2. Xue K, Mellington FE, Norris JH. Meta-analysis of the adjunctive use of mitomycin C in primary and revision, external and endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy. Orbit. 2014;33:239-244. (British Oculoplastic Recent Surgery Society Annual Publication Prize 2015) publications Muqit MM, Xue K, Patel CK. National survey of progressive symptomatic retinal detachment complicating retinoschisis in the United Kingdom. Eye (Lond). 2013;27:1425-1426. Xue K, Hildebrand GD. Retropupillary Artisan intraocular lens implantation in very young children with aphakia following penetrating eye injuries. J AAPOS. 2013;17:428-31. Xue K, Hildebrand GD. Deep periocular infantile capillary hemangiomas responding to topical application of timolol maleate 0.5% drops. JAMA Ophthalmology. 2013;11:1-2. Xue K, Rada C, Neuberger MS. The in vivo pattern of AID targeting to immunoglobulin switch regions deduced from mutation spectra in msh2-/- ung-/- mice. Journal of Experimental Medicine. 2006;203:2085-94. Funding partner Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School (OUCAG) 3 Clinical Ophthalmology Research Group Kanmin Xue is an Academic Clinical Lecturer at the University of Oxford and an Ophthalmologist (Senior Specialty Registrar) at the Oxford Eye Hospital. He works within Professor Robert MacLaren’s Clinical Ophthalmology Research Group, which has been at the forefront of research into novel clinical treatments for incurable retinal diseases, using innovative approaches such as photoreceptor transplantation, stem cell therapy, gene therapy and the implantation of electronic retinas. In association with Prof MacLaren, he is running the PhaseI/II clinical trial of adeno-associated viral vector gene therapy for choroideremia, a model genetic disorder that causes progressive blindness. He is also investigating the cellular responses to gene therapy viral vectors within the retina with a view to producing more potent and sustained therapeutic effects. Overview of the role You will be working with Dr Kanmin Xue and other research members/collaborators of the Clinical Ophthalmology Research Group within the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology (a part of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences) situated at the West Wing of the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. We are using adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector gene therapy to treat inherited retinal degenerations with promising results. The main aim of the research is to investigate innate immune responses to viral DNA (such as from AAV) within the retinal cells with a view to generate more potent and sustained therapeutic effects. Responsibilities/duties Translational laboratory research using molecular cell biology techniques, including: AAV gene therapy vector transduction assays in human and animal cell lines. RNA purification and reverse-transcription qPCR analysis of retinal gene expression. Conducting other experiments arising from the project (e.g. gene knock-down/out and production of AAV vectors) and performing such duties as may be required that are commensurate with the grade of this post. To record research developments in a clear, concise and consistent manner, in-line with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP). Communication To communicate with Dr Kanmin Xue and collaborators, ensuring that they are kept fully up-to-date with progress and difficulties in the research project. To attend and contribute to scientific discussions with members of the research group at weekly lab meetings (Monday AM). Education and Training To attend relevant scientific seminars, training and meetings at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences and elsewhere. 4 Selection criteria Please