Postdoctoral Research Associate

Full time contract (35 hours per week), (28 hours per week is also an option)

Fixed term (proposed start date: 1^st July 24, end date no later than 31^st August 26)

We are looking for a postdoctoral research associate to join our team to work in the exciting field of ecoimmunology. This post forms part of a BBSRC-funded project titled “Disease susceptibility and gut health in the wild: Determining interactions between diet, gut microbiome, and immunity”. Whilst the project spans immunology, ecology, microbiology and parasitology, we are particularly interested in applicants bringing experience and background in microbiome analysis to join our multi-disciplinary team. This project experimentally tests whether diet supplementation directly, or indirectly, impacts helminth infection through changes in the immune response and/or in the gut microbiota. The team combines interventional experiments in wild mouse populations alongside controlled laboratory mouse studies, to determine what drives diet-mediated improvements in helminth resistance and reductions in host harm. The scope of the post is to conduct laboratory research, contributing to the development of new ideas, approaches, concepts or techniques. The post holder will also contribute to data analysis, publications and other types of research dissemination such as conference talks.

The opportunity:

The successful candidate will work as part of a large, interdisciplinary research team, specifically focused on using field interventions in a wild house mouse system – the same species as laboratory mice - to better understand how diet, the microbiome and the immune system interact to shape susceptibility do parasitic disease. The post holder will be leading the microbiome analysis, parasitological analysis, gut pathology analysis and several faecal biomarker analyses, as well as organising, coordinating and conducting fieldwork as part of a team and managing the day-to-day lab tasks. The post holder will receive relevant training and guidance by the PI/Co-I and wider team members to develop their technical and broader scientific skills as well as support with career development.

This post will be undertaken in the lab of Amy Pedersen (pedersen.bio.ed.ac.uk) in conjunction with Iris Mair (www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-iris-mair) in the Institute of Evolution and Ecology at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh. The post holder will be based at the Kings Buildings, University of Edinburgh, but the wider project is interdisciplinary, being also supported by Prof. Kathryn Else (University of Manchester).

This post is advertised as full-time, but we are open to candidates with other preferences. The start date is advertised as 1^st July 2024, but can be flexible. Please get in touch if you are interested and would require a later start date.

Your skills and attributes for success: 

• PhD (or to be completed within 3 months) in Microbiology, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Parasitology, or Ecology & Evolution
• Experience in obtaining and analysing gut microbiome samples and data
• Animal handling experience
• Willingness to perform 2x 6-week long remote fieldwork each year involving small rodent live trapping, animal handling, and terminal dissection
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of an active research team

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