Bioinformatician - Mechanisms of Germ-line Selection of Mitochondrial DNA (Fixed Term)

The University of Cambridge wishes to appoint a talented postdoctoral research associate in bioinformatics and computational biology to join a team of clinical, laboratory and computational scientists in the research groups of Prof Patrick Chinnery and Prof Michal Minczuk at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit. The post is funded by UKRI/BBSRC as part of a collaboration with Prof Marcos Chiaratti, Sao Carlos, Brazil.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is strictly maternally inherited but undergoes selection whilst being transmitted from mothers to offspring, shaping the population genetic landscape and determining whether pathogenic mtDNA mutations cause disease ¿ but the mechanism involved are not understood. T post holder will lead the analysis on extensive new single cell datasets generated from animal studies and cell lines aimed at unravelling the molecular basis of selection for and against mtDNA variants in the female germ line. The post holder will work in close partnership with the wet-lab team and use novel computational approaches and algorithms including A.I. and Bayesian statistical methods to infer causal relationships between mtDNA variants and nuclear genetic transcriptional responses throughout development. This will address a fundamental biological question with implications for human diseases.

This role provides a unique opportunity to drive discovery in a new area of biology that is only possible because of the advent of single cell techniques and the multi-disciplinary nature of the research team spanning wet and data science across continents. The post holder will work closely with other bioinformaticians, laboratory and clinical scientists in the University, Wellcome Sanger Institute, the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute and the Brazilian research team.

The group publishes high-profile publications.

Candidates are expected to be independent, highly motivated, and keen to work collaboratively with wet-lab and computational biologists within and outside the research groups. In addition to their own research, there will be opportunities for training and career development, and supervision of junior researchers.

The role will be located within the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, with state-of-the-art facilities available to group members, including computational resources (i.e. access to HPC facilities, a Linux cluster and storage).

The lab and the wider University of Cambridge are committed, in their pursuit of academic and research excellence, to a pro-active and inclusive approach to equality, which supports and encourages all under-represented groups, promotes an inclusive culture, and values diversity. Flexible working and working from home arrangements will be considered. The University particularly encourages women and candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to apply.

Lab websites:

MRC MBU Research groups: https://www.mrc-mbu.cam.ac.uk/research-groups Cambridge Clinical Mitochondrial Research team: https://mitocamb.medschl.cam.ac.uk/

For informal enquiries, please contact Patrick Chinnery (pfc25@cam.ac.uk)

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.

Please ensure that you upload a covering letter and CV in the Upload section of the online application. The covering letter should outline how you match the criteria for the post and why you are applying for this role. If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.

Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number, one of which must be your most recent line manager.

Closing date: 30th April 2025

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