Research Fellow (0.5FTE)

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.

We are seeking to appoint a Post Doctoral Research Fellow (PDRF) to work on the enteric pathogen Campylobacter jejuni; the leading bacterial cause of human gastroenteritis globally. This post aims to apply molecular and phenotypic methodologies to characterise the C. jejuni Type VI Secretion System (T6SS), a harpoon-like machine allows bacteria to fire damaging toxins, known as “effectors”, into other bacteria and in human cells, allowing bacteria to cause disease. In several notorious enteric pathogens, the T6SS is an important virulence determinant that supports the survival and domination of host intestinal niches. The T6SS can also subvert host cell functions and promote immune evasion thus supporting bacterial pathogenesis. We will characterise the antibacterial and anti-host activities of the T6SS and selected effectors using in vitro and in vivo models, deletion mutants and complemented strains. Using a chicken infection model, we will determine the fitness advantage conferred by the T6SS, during intra-species co-infection of C. jejuni. We will further our study by characterising the biochemical and structural features of the C. jejuni T6SS and effectors. 

The post will be based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine with the team of Dr Ozan Gundogdu, and will also include research time in the University of Nagasaki, Japan, with Professor Daniel Ken Inaoka and his team. 

The successful candidate will have a postgraduate degree, ideally a doctoral degree, in a relevant topic, relevant experience in C. jejuni pathogenesis in avian models demonstrating expertise in genotypic and phenotypic experiments, including the creation of targeted mutants, experience with high-resolution microscopy-based techniques and genomics. Experience with in vivo chicken infection models would be highly desirable. Further particulars can be found in the job description.

The post is fixed term until 30 March 2027 (with a potential extension until 01 October 2027) and part-time 17.5 hours per week, 0.5 FTE. The post is funded by the Royal Society and is available from 01 October 2024. The salary will be on the Academic scale, Grade 32 scale in the range £43,947 - £49,908 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 on-line via our jobs website. 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-2024-17. 

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.

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