Experimental Officer (Large Animal Models of Heart Failure)

The Unit of Cardiac Physiology within the Division of Cardiovascular Science wish to appoint an Experimental Officer to an exciting project exploring the biology of major heart diseases

Background

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a rapidly growing clinical challenge, with complex underlying mechanisms and limited therapeutic options. Alongside HFpEF, other heart failure models—including myocardial infarction, tachypacing-induced heart failure, and atrial fibrillation—are essential for understanding disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. The University of Manchester’s British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence is advancing translational research to understand heart failure pathophysiology, the impact of comorbidities, and to develop new therapies. This post will focus on developing and utilising large animal models to investigate HFpEF and related heart failure syndromes and will play a key role in coordinating research activities across interdisciplinary teams.

The main objectives for the role include

• Developing and characterising large animal models of heart failure, with a primary focus on HFpEF (e.g., triple-hit models involving age, hypertension, obesity).
• Implement and study additional models including myocardial infarction, tachypacing-induced heart failure, and atrial fibrillation.
• Investigate the interactions between different heart failure models and the role of comorbidities (e.g., metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension) in disease progression and therapeutic response.
• Conduct in vivo investigations including echocardiography, haemodynamic assessments, and tissue harvesting.
• Coordinate research activities and foster collaboration across multiple research groups and disciplines.
• Support experimental planning, protocol development, and troubleshooting.
• Contribute to data analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of findings.
  
  
  

The Post Holder Will Have The Following Key Responsibilities

• Day-to-day management of large animal colonies and experimental protocols for HFpEF and other heart failure models.
• Planning and delivery of in vivo heart failure experiments, including surgical and non-surgical interventions.
• Uphold the highest standards of regulatory compliance, ensuring all research activities strictly adhere to institutional, legal, and health & safety requirements.
• Coordinate and facilitate collaboration between research groups, including scheduling, resource sharing, and communication.
• Train and supervise other laboratory members in relevant methodologies.
• Maintain accurate records of experimental data and analysis.
• Communicate research findings to scientific and lay audiences.
• Participate actively in scientific meetings and collaborative projects.
• Work across all stakeholders to support development of collaborative research proposals and interdisciplinary programmes.
• Develop clear and robust plans for funding applications and fellowship proposals, contributing to the long-term sustainability and growth of the research programme.
  
  
  

What Will You Get In Return

• Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
• Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
• Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
• Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
• Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers
  
  
  

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.

Please be aware that due to the number of applications we are unfortunately not able to provide individual feedback on your application.

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to

Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Professor Andrew Trafford

Email:

General enquiries:

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Technical support:

https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.