Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Noursadeghi Team)

About us

We are seeking a post-doctoral laboratory scientist to join Prof. Mahdad Noursadeghi’s team in the Innate2Adaptive research group (https://www.innate2adaptive.uk/) within the Division of Infection and Immunity at UCL.

Our group comprises a multi-disciplinary team of clinician and non-clinician scientists with expertise in laboratory science, human experimental medicine and bioinformatic/computational methodologies. Our work focuses on the immunology of infectious diseases, aiming to identify biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic applications, and enabling development of novel vaccines and therapeutics.

About the role

The post is supported by a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award for identification of clonal and functional T cell determinants of protection and pathogenesis in tuberculosis, aiming to develop novel approaches to stratifying disease risk in people who become infected and inform the design of next-generation vaccines. This programme of work is underpinned by the hypothesis that protective and pathogenic immunity is determined at the level of highly specific T cell-peptide/MHC interactions mediated by generalisable T cell metaclones. We aim to identify these public metaclones by TCR sequencing, undertake reverse epitope discovery to identify their pMHC targets, and to evaluate their role in pathogen clearance, clinical outcomes and vaccine efficacy.

The post-holder will be responsible for laboratory experimental work encompassing molecular and cellular biology, immunological assays, host transcriptional profiling by RNA/T cell receptor sequencing, and assays of Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth/restriction . Specific objectives focus on experimental validation of pMHC targets of public T cell metaclones, testing the relationship between TCR-pMHC affinities and T cell function, and unravelling the mechanisms by which T cells and macrophage interactions contribute to protective and pathogenic immunity.

The appointment will be for 3 years in the first instance, with the possibility of extension. Informal enquiries regarding the vacancy can be made by email to Prof. Mahdad Noursadeghi.

About you

All applications must include a supporting statement to explain your motivation for the post and providing evidence using examples to showcase how you meet the essential criteria listed in the job description. Applications without a supporting statement will be rejected.

If you have any queries about the role or application process, have any technical issues, or need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online, please contact the staffing team.

Note: Appointment at grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, the initial appointment will be at research assistant Grade 6B, with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis

What we offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits. Please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/reward-and-benefits to find out more.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

Customer advert reference: B02-08564

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