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.

The Department of Infection Biology brings together pathogen molecular biology and immunology and infection research across the School. The Department benefits from state-of-the-art facilities and strong collaborations, many of which are with partners in disease endemic countries.

The Department of Infection Biology is looking to appoint a Research Fellow to join the highly successful and supportive team laboratory team of Prof Jose Bengoechea at the main Keppel Street building in London.

The postholder will work in a multidisciplinary project aiming to dissect the gut colonization stage of the human pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae as part of a Medical Research Council-funded programme grant. This will involve in-depth analysis of the interface between Klebsiella and the gut microbiome, leading to the discovery of microbiome consortia with enhanced colonization resistance. The postholder will also unlock the molecular events leading to the pathogen crossing the intestinal barrier. The work leverages in vivo and ex vivo models (gut organoids, fully differentiated intestinal epithelium), imaging, and high-throughput screens.

The successful candidate will have a postgraduate degree, ideally a doctoral degree, in a relevant topic, relevant experience in molecular microbiology of bacterial pathogens, and in tissue culture (macrophages or epithelial cells), relevant experience in confocal imaging, or scRNA-seq/RNA-seq. Further particulars are included in the job description.

The post is full-time 35 hours per week, 1.0 FTE and fixed term until 31 August 2030. The post is funded by the Medical Research Council and is available from 01 September 2026.

The salary will be on the LSHTM salary scale, Grade 6 in the range £45,728 - £51,872 per annum pro rata (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 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-2026-08.

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. An answer to any of the criteria such as "Please see attached CV" will not be considered acceptable. 

Please note that if you are shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview date it may not be possible to offer you an alternative date.

Type / Role:

Subject Area(s):

Location(s):