Snabbfakta
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- London
Ansök senast: 2025-03-10
Postdoctoral Research Associate
About Us
The Department of Infectious Diseases is a constituent department of the School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences with KCL's Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine. It comprises of a vibrant scientific and clinical community of multidisciplinary research groups engaged in basic and translational investigations of the biology, immunopathogenesis, vaccinology and clinical management of human microbial pathogens. Current areas of research include: the biology and immunology of HIVAIDS, SARS CoV-2 and influenza viruses; and host interactions, immune evasion and antimicrobial resistance of enteric and respiratory bacterial pathogens. The department is collocated with wider research interests in basic and translational immunology and inflammation science. In addition, we have key interactions with infection-specialised clinical colleagues at Guys and St Thomas' and King's College Hospital Trusts.
The Neil laboratory has a long-standing interest in the immune evasion of HIV-1, and particularly the biology of its accessory proteins in modulating innate antiviral immunity to promote viral replication and transmission.
About the role
We are seeking 2 talented and committed postdoctoral research associates to join the group of Professor Stuart Neil at King's College London. The successful candidates will be responsible for designing, performing, analysing and presenting their experimental work to understand the role of innate immune signalling manipulation by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the pathogenesis of HIV/AIDS.
HIV-1 encodes accessory proteins Vpr and Vpu that modulate proinflammatory signalling in infected CD4+ T cells and macrophages by targeting known and unidentified cellular factors for ubiquitin-dependent degradation. The successful candidates will perform research projects within the aims of an over-arching MRC programme grant to understand the role of these processes in the pathophysiology of HIV/AIDS. These projects will encompass some or all of the following:
- Using Cut-and-Tag seq and related genomic approaches to understand the regulation of proinflammatory transcription factors across the replication cycle of HIV-1 in primary human target cells.
- To use biochemical, proteomic and microscopy-based approaches to understand function and cellular targets of Vpr and Vpu in the viral manipulation of inflammatory signalling pathways.
- To characterise the function of HIV-1 accessory proteins in primary cell models of HIV-1 latency and the potential for modulating the establishment of the viral reservoir in people living with HIV.
About You
To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:
Essential criteria
- PhD qualified in virology, immunology or other relevant subject *
- Track record of publication or clear potential for publication of their postgraduate work in leading high-profile biomedical journals
- Excellent written and presentational skills
- Experience in handling, culture and propagation of human pathogens
- Extensive experience in major molecular biology, biochemistry and cell biology techniques
- Experience in both performing and the bioinformatic analyses of datasets from genetic/transcriptomic OR proteomic experiments
- Ability to work collegially within a team and with external collaborators
* 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
- Experience in handling and the molecular manipulation of HIV-1 or related viruses
- Experience in fluorescent microscopy and live cell imaging
- Performing and analysing nanopore-based sequencing
- Experience in handling and flow cytometric analysis of primary human blood cells
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.
We are able to offer sponsorship for candidates who do not currently possess the right to work in the UK.
This post is subject to Occupational Health clearance.#J-18808-Ljbffr
