AddressApplications Close: 29 March 2024
Salary: £35,300 to £43,750 per annum depending on qualifications and experience
Contract Length: Full time, 2 years
Applications are invited for the LunaNova Fellowship to join the Laboratory of Prof Simon Carding in our Food, Microbiome and Health research programme..
Background
We are seeking to appoint a talented and enthusiastic Postdoctoral Research Scientist with experience in cellular and molecular immunology to undertake an exciting project investigating premature ageing (senescence) of the immune system due to chronic exposure to, and stimulation by, endogenous microbes and/or their products in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The successful candidate will contribute to the groups’ studies on the role that endogenous viruses play in immune ageing.
The role
The LunaNova Fellow will be responsible for undertaking studies to characterise immune ageing phenotypes and presence of microbes and microbial products in patient-derived samples obtained from biorepositories and from ME patients participating in QI based studies and clinical trials. This will include a clinical trial investigating the impact of microbiota replacement therapy/faecal microbiota transplantation (MRT/FMT) on microbe/virus activation/reactivation on immune function.
The post-holder will be expected to both develop new protocols and utilise existing protocols established at QIB, and in the laboratories of our collaborators at the Universidad Catolica de Valencia, Spain (UCV), and University of Birmingham, UK (UoB) for the assessment of endogenous eukaryotic viruses and immune function/ageing, respectively. This will include developing co-culture systems to investigate the impact of microbes/microbial products on immune cell ageing using multi-parameter deep single cell immune phenotyping and functional profiling.
The ideal candidate
The ideal candidate should have a PhD in biological sciences/immunology/virology with practical experience of cellular and molecular immunology, and theoretical and/or practical experience of virology. It is essential that the post holder will have excellent communication and organisation skills, a proven record in scientific writing, and the ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
Additional information
Salary on appointment will be within the range £35,300 to £43,750 per annum depending on qualifications and experience. This is a full-time post for a contract of 24 months and provides an opportunity for the post holder to develop skills in human immunology and immune senescence, virology and the management/running of human clinical trials.
Further information and details of how to apply can be found on the HR website, or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450814 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk quoting reference 1004579.
Interviews will be held on 26 April 2024.
We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sectors of society. The Institute supports equality of opportunity within the workplace and expects all employees to share and display these values. To support our commitment, we have a range of family, faith and diversity friendly working arrangements to help all staff achieve excellence in their area of work.
As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.
About the Quadram Institute
The Quadram Institute is a new interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Its mission is to deliver healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food. A partnership between Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and BBSRC, it brings together scientists and clinicians in a state-of-the-art building on the Norwich Research Park. This is one of Europe’s largest centres of life sciences and home of the John Innes Centre and The Earlham Institute.
The closing date for applications will be 29 March 2024.
The Quadram Institute Bioscience is a registered charity (No. 1058499)and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.
