Postdoctoral Position in Brain Disorders University College Cork

Project: Design and preclinical development of nanotherapeutics for brain disorders.

This project is funded by CURAM, the National Centre for Research in Medical Devices, backed by Science Foundation Ireland and industry funding.
This post will be located in a multidisciplinary environment at the interface between the pharmacodelivery group and the neuroscience group in the state-of-the-art facilities in the School of Pharmacy at UCC. It will be co-supervised by Profs John F Cryan and Caitriona O’Driscoll.

The concept of utilising nucleic acids including siRNA or miRNA to manipulate genes for therapeutic purposes is well known. However, the ability to translate this concept into a gene medicine has to date been limited by the availability of safe and effective delivery systems. Significant opportunities exist to apply RNAi effectors in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases provided the barriers to delivery including permeability across the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) can be overcome. This project involves the design and formulation of nano-delivery technologies to complex, protect and delivery nucleic acid cargos to the brain. The work will also involve establishing and validating physiologically relevant BBB models to effectively assess the performance of prototype nano-complexes. 
This project will build on the long standing collaboration between the Cryan and O’Driscoll labs, which unites expertise in neuropharmacology and drug delivery technology and has a proven track record in joint peer reviewed publications. 

We are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic, highly motivated scientist with a strong interest in drug delivery & neuroscience and an ability to work to a high standard with a proven track record in publishing papers in peer review journals. This position offers the opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary environment involving chemists, drug delivery scientists, neuroscientists and clinicians.