Research Associate

Location: St Mary’s and Hammersmith Campuses  

Job Summary 

We are looking for up to two postdoctoral Research Associates to join the Thwaites laboratory team within the Section of Respiratory Infections at the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI). The research programme is led Dr Ryan Thwaites and funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Wellcome Trust, and the Novo Nordisk Fonden (NNF). The Thwaites Group is a multi-disciplinary research team of clinical and basic scientists with shared interests in the immune response to infections of the respiratory tract. 

Mucosal antibodies are considered essential for providing sterilising immunity to respiratory viruses; however, our understanding of how mucosal antibodies are generated lags behind their peripheral blood counterparts. Recent work in the Thwaites lab has developed our ability to measure the titre of antibodies in human respiratory mucosal samples (Thwaites et al., Nature Communications (2023), Wagstaffe et al., Science Immunology (2024)). We have additionally demonstrated that these mucosal responses are distinct from peripheral antibody responses, supporting evidence for their generation by local mucosal resident B cells. We aim to progress these tools to a ‘systems serology’ level, enabling the characterisation of mucosal antibody functions, including pathogen neutralisation and Fc-dependent functions, for the first time. The described postdoctoral research posts will advance these capabilities in parallel through analysis of samples arising from vaccine challenge and controlled human infection model (CHIM) studies with influenza and SARS-CoV-2. 

Influenza

Our new NIH/NIAID and NNF funding establishes an international set of collaborations with teams in Australia, the USA, Denmark, and across Imperial College London. The nature of the antibody response will be related to the viral and immunologic features of experimental influenza infections and responses to influenza vaccines. Together, this approach will develop our understanding of the functions of mucosal antibodies and those features of infection and immune mechanisms driving their production, building on recent work (Thwaites et al., Nature Communications (2023)). This work aims to advance our understanding of the determinants of mucosal antibody responses, identify factors that sustain these responses, and inform future mucosal vaccine approaches.

SARS-CoV-2

With funding support from CEPI and the Wellcome Trust, and collaborations with a global network of experts in CHIM studies and vaccine development, we aim to make major advances in our understanding of mucosal responses during SARS-CoV-2 infections. In addition to providing fundamental insights, we aim to develop standardised and validated tools for measuring mucosal antibody responses that can be applied to vaccine immunogenicity testing globally. This builds on our recent work on SARS-CoV-2 CHIM studies (e.g. Wagstaffe et al., Science Immunology (2024)) and naturally-acquired SARS-CoV-2 (e.g. Thwaites et al., Science Immunology (2021) and Liew et al., eBiomedicine (2023)). 

Duties and responsibilities

In addition to their specific project, the post holder will be expected to undertake project management and/or supervise multi-disciplinary teams including students. They will be expected to lead their project to submission of publications to high impact journals and will be supported to attract external research funding.

Essential requirements 

• PhD in Immunology or related discipline or equivalent research, industrial or commercial experience
• Knowledge of antibody functions and immune responses determining humoral immunity
• Practical experience in laboratory techniques such as immunoassays, flow cytometry, tissue culture, processing of primary human tissues, and gene expression analysis
• Computer literate with an advanced ability in data analysis and presentation
• A collaborative approach and experience within multidisciplinary teams

Further Information

This is a fulltime, fixed term role for 3 years based in the St Mary’s and Hammersmith campuses of Imperial College London and full-time on-site working is anticipated.

Applicants are encouraged to include a discussion of which role (Influenza or SARS-CoV-2) they are primarily interested in within their cover letter.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £40,694 - £43,888 per annum.

However, occasional working from home will be supported at the supervisors’ discretion. More information is available on the following web page: Work Location Framework | Administration and support services | Imperial College London

Please complete an online application to be considered.

For technical issues when applying online please email sjobs@ic.ac.uk

Should you require any further details on the role please contact: Ryan Thwaites (r.thwaites@imperial.ac.uk)

Closing date: 09 July 2024