Job Title: Research Assistant
Department: Surgery
Reporting to: Dr Jean McBryan
Location: RCSI Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital
Contract/Duration: Specified Purpose contract for up to 16 months
Remuneration: Up to €34,203 (Point 3 on the Irish Universities Association Research Assistant salary scale), subject to skills and experience
Closing Date: Friday 10th January 2025
RCSI is a community of academic, research, clinical and professional staff working collaboratively to lead the world to better health. Here, you will thrive in an innovative and inclusive atmosphere and your personal development and wellbeing will be supported. We invite you to join us to help deliver on our exciting mission “To educate, nurture and discover for the benefit of human health”. We seek candidates whose experience to date has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to the “Race Equality Action Plan 2021-2024” at RCSI. Our students come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds. This makes our university stronger and ensures we hire the best talent.
Innovating for a Healthier Future 2023-2027 is RCSI's new five-year strategic plan. Through it, RCSI will enhance human health by meeting the health workforce needs of society, creating the insights and inventions that drive health improvements, and working in partnership with patients and the public in support of better health and well-being for all. The strategy unites the RCSI community in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals – with a particular focus on Goal 3, which targets good health and well-being.
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About Our Research
RCSI recognises that excellence in research is critical to the quality of its educational activities, its credibility, and, overall, to its mission to enhance human health. RCSI's research strategy aims to build upon its strength in translational biomedical and clinical research to deliver transformational, high impact changes in health care. Targeting both Irish national and EU funding, along with increased collaboration with industry, is a major part of the RCSI research strategy. Forging increased collaboration between RCSI PIs and industry is of critical importance to achieving success in this area. RCSI is also committed to provide its researchers with the supports and developmental opportunities to enable them to continuously grow and support their overall career development.
Summary of Post
RCSI currently has a position available for a Research Assistant to work on a project funded by the Irish Cancer Society. The post will be carried out at the new research labs in the RCSI Education and Research Centre at Beaumont Hospital. The project will focus on breast cancer and understanding the molecular biology of cancer recurrence. The project builds on previous work from the research team (Madden et al., 2023; PMID: 36266450).
Specifically, the project aim is to visualise cancer cells as they reawaken from dormancy. Using cell line models of Tamoxifen-induced dormancy, the Research Assistant will study the expression of proteins that can be used to distinguish dormant from reawakened cells. Patient blood samples will also be used to test the potential of translating a protein biomarker to clinical applications. The Research Assistant will be responsible for conducting a number of lab-based assays to investigate protein expression.
The ideal candidate will have a background in biology, biochemistry or a related field with experience in molecular biology techniques and a passion for advancing cancer treatments.
Specifically, the duties of the post are:
Qualifications – (Essential):
Knowledge & Experience – ( Essential):