Postdoc opportunity in gene regulation, human facial development and disease at University of Edinburgh, MRC Human Genetics Unit

We seek an outstanding postdoctoral fellow to join the group of Dr. Hannah Long at the MRC Human Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh within a programme investigating mechanisms of gene regulation during craniofacial development and disease. Craniofacial malformations account for over a third of all human congenital disorders, and in many cases these structural birth defects are associated with mutations in the non-coding genome. We are focused on characterising how regulatory elements called enhancers control developmental gene expression during the formation of the human facial complex, and how their perturbation may detrimentally impact gene expression and cause human disease. While many projects are available in the lab, we are particularly interested in understanding how multiple enhancers regulate gene expression across elaborate gene regulatory landscapes, and how combinatorial enhancer action influences target gene expression in time and space. The successful candidate will leverage human embryonic stem cell models of facial development and genetic engineering approaches to explore enhancer function across complex gene regulatory landscapes. The candidate will further utilise and develop high throughput screening approaches in vitro and imaging approaches in vivo for assessing and perturbing enhancer combinatorial activity.