Research Fellow

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is one of the world’s leading public health universities. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice.

We are seeking to appoint a Post Doctoral Research Fellow (PDRF) to work on the enteric pathogen Campylobacter jejuni; the leading bacterial cause of human gastroenteritis globally. This post aims to apply molecular and phenotypic methodologies to characterise Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs), which play an important role in C. jejuni virulence. Critical to the formation of OMVs is the Maintenance of Lipid Asymmetry (MLA) system, an evolutionary conserved multi-protein assembly in all Gram-negative bacteria, that transports glycophospholipids to and from the outer membrane. We hypothesise that exploring the MLA system of C. jejuni will enable us to enrich OMV production and modify OMVs that are suitable for developing OMVs-based vaccine modalities against C. jejuni colonisation in commercial broilers. To do this, we will address the following questions: i) How is the MLA system important in C. jejuni OMV production? ii) How do the biophysical and functional features of C. jejuni OMVs impact the avian host responses? iii) How can OMVs be used as potential non-replicative vaccine candidates?

The post will be based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine with the team of Dr Ozan Gundogdu, and will also include research time in IISER Kolkata, India, with Dr Amirul Islam Mallick and his team. 

The successful candidate will have a postgraduate degree, ideally a doctoral degree, in a relevant topic, relevant experience in Campylobacter jejuni pathogenesis in avian model demonstrating expertise in genotypic and phenotypic experiments, including the creation of targeted mutants, experience utilising such fundamental knowledge in relation to translational research for the purpose of developing intervention and control strategies e.g., vaccine research. Experience with high-resolution microscopy-based techniques and genomics. Experience with in vivo chicken infection models would be highly desirable. Further particulars are included in the job description.

The post is full-time, 1.0 FTE and fixed-term until 30 November 2026. The post is funded by the BBSRC and is available from October 2024. The salary will be on the Academic Pathway salary scale, Grade 6 in the range £43,947 - £49,908 per annum (inclusive of London Weighting). The post will be subject to the LSHTM terms and conditions of service.  Annual leave entitlement is 30 working days per year, pro rata for part time staff. In addition to this there are discretionary “Wellbeing Days”. Membership of the Pension Scheme is available. The post is based in London at LSHTM.

Applications should be made on-line by clicking the 'Apply' button, above.

Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until 10pm of the closing date.

Any queries regarding the application process may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk.

Please quote reference ITD-DIB-2024-18.

The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience and training meet each of the selection criteria. Please provide one or more paragraphs addressing each criterion. The supporting statement is an essential part of the selection process and thus, a failure to provide this information will mean that the application will not be considered.

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