King's College London

About Us

The Centre for Human & Applied Physiological Sciences (CHAPS) is situated within the School of Basic & Medical Biosciences(within the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine), which is led by Professor Mathias Gautel and comprises five departments with a wide range of expertise and interests. Using a bench to bedside approach, the School aims to answer fundamental questions about biology in health and disease and apply this knowledge to the development of new and innovative clinical practise, alongside providing a rigorous academic programme for students. 

About the role

Dr. Seaborne’s group investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms underpinning muscle biology, in the context of health and disease, with recent attention focussing on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) as the most common motor neuron disease. ALS is characterised by progressive loss of upper and lower motor neurons, muscle wasting, and premature mortality. While ALS has traditionally been studied as a neuron-centred disease, emerging evidence strongly implicates skeletal muscle as an active driver of disease pathology. This MRC-funded project will apply a novel single muscle cell (myofiber) omic platform — developed by the PI — to interrogate ALS pathogenesis at an unprecedented level of resolution. By simultaneously analysing multiple data sets (MANT-ATP, methylome, transcriptome and proteome) derived from the same individual muscle fibre, this project will determine the subtype-specific dysregulation of SkM in ALS, both in human patient biopsies and in a newly developed swine ALS model. The postholder will lead wet-lab experimental work, across biophysical (MANT-ATP) and functional genomic assays (methylome, transcriptome and proteome), generating and integrating multi-omic datasets to define how SkM contributes to ALS onset and progression. 

The position will require travel to University of Copenhagen to work closely with Dr. Julien Ochala, a leading expert in muscle biophysical assays. Travel and accommodation will be paid for. Abroad travel will be a maximum of 16 weeks across the 24 month fixed term period.  

This is a full time role (35 hours per week), role based in the UK with occasional travel to Copenhagen and you will be offered a fixed term contract starting 17 November 2025 until 16 November 2027.  This is a fully on site role.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD qualified in relevant subject area (muscle physiology, muscle biology, genomics, epigenetic etc.) *
2. Prior experience with single cell omic pipelines 
3. Proven ability to design, implement and analyse experiments  
4. Advanced molecular biology techniques (including DNA/RNA/protein handling, PCR, qPCR, quality control assays, western blots…) 
5. Proven ability to critique and interpret experiments/data and problem-solve 
6. Capacity to work independently and as a multi-disciplined team, and ability to travel abroad to perform research work 
7. Excellent verbal and written communication skills (e.g. presentations, seminars, lab meetings…) as proven by track-record of scientific publications in leading journals and scientific dissemination 
8. Demonstrate excellent organisational skills, record keeping, academic integrity, and rigor

* Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate, and the salary will increase to Grade 6. 

Desirable criteria

1. Experience with skeletal muscle tissue and single muscle cell (myofiber) handling 
2. Experience in handling, processing, analysing and interpreting large data sets 
3. Experience in mentoring, leading and organising junior laboratory members and laboratory arrangements (e.g. MSc or PhD students) 
4. Track record for scientific dissemination to key stake holders, the public and patient groups 

Downloading a copy of our Job Description 

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's. We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

Interviews are due to be held week commencing 13 October 2025.

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearances.