Postdoctoral Research Associate

Full time: 35 hours per week

Fixed term: 40 months

The opportunity:

African trypanosomes are eukaryotic parasites that are important agents of human disease but also have major impact on livestock health in sub-Saharan Africa. Here they cause the disease �nagana�, a fatal wasting of livestock. Our laboratory has long term interest in the transmission biology of these parasites, studying how they prepare for uptake by their vector (tsetse flies) by exploiting cell-to cell communication to regulate parasite numbers in the host and drive development of the parasite. This has allowed molecular characterisation of the parasite�s quorum sensing signalling pathway (Mony, MacGregor et al,�Nature�2014,�PMID:�24336212; Rojas et al,�Cell, 2019,�PMID:�30503212). In the field, trypanosome infections are often comprised of more than strain or species of the parasite as different parasite lines circulate among livestock herds and in game animals in the same geographical region. In experimental infections our laboratory has demonstrated that over the course of several weeks of coinfection between trypanosome species in rodents, the parasites adapt their sensitivity to the cell-to-cell communication signal, this causing them to increase their disease virulence. We have isolated a number of selected parasite lines from coinfections and plan to understand the molecular and genetic basis of how they have adapted after competition in a coinfection, thereby becoming more virulent. This project will involve a combination of bioinformatic, genomic, transcriptomic and laboratory manipulation of the selected parasite lines.

• Relevant information can be found within our lab website (biology.ed.ac.uk/the-matthews-lab) and recent publications (e.g. Oldrieve et al,�Nature Communications, 2024; PMID�39622840; Larcombe et al, 2023; Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023; PMID: 37824530).

This post is advertised as full-time (35 hours per week), however, we are open to considering part-time or flexible working patterns. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Strong bioinformatic expertise to interrogate parasite genomes and transcriptomes
• Experience working with CL3 pathogens, especially African trypanosomes, and genetically manipulating them
• Ability to interpret and present data orally and in writing
• Capacity to work as a team, helping operation of the laboratory or the projects of other lab members collaboratively if needed
• Willingness to work with in vivo infections, including animal handling and parasite phenotype analysis in infections

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