Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) - Schistosomiasis Drug Discovery

We are seeking to appoint a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to join an energetic and enthusiastic team of investigators working on a new project, ‘Accelerating pre-clinical drug discovery for schistosomiasis’, funded by Wellcome. This is a collaborative project built upon the interdisciplinary expertise of Aberystwyth University, University of Dundee and UT Southwestern Medical Center. The research programme is structured across two milestones and the funding for Milestone 2 will be confirmed by the external sponsor following the successful completion of Milestone 1 (31 December 2027).

With at least 240 million people suffering from schistosomiasis, a neglected infectious disease caused by parasitic trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma and with no vaccine near clinical deployment, the cornerstone of schistosomiasis control is predominantly facilitated by just one single chemotherapeutic agent, praziquantel (PZQ). PZQ, however, is ineffectual against juvenile worms and, with its increased use in mass administration programs, increased resistance to the treatment is a major concern. Consequently, this Wellcome project aims to develop and apply the most advanced tools to increase drug discovery efficiency and make these available to the international NTD drug discovery community. To achieve morbidity control and elimination, new effective treatment options are required. This project aims to accelerate the progression of new chemical entities (NCEs) towards clinical candidate selection and the project team will combine phenotypic and target-based drug discovery to accelerate the drug discovery process.

The appointed PDRA will be based in the Hoffmann Research Laboratory at Aberystwyth University and will be required to support the AU Lead PI in the delivery of the project aims, both to time and to budget. The post-holder will be required to carry out whole organism assays (including rate of kill) of prioritized compounds against different life‑cycle stages of the parasites (schistosomula, adult worms, juvenile worms), including optimisation of in vitro assay conditions and the further optimisation/development of assays for quantifying schistosome movement. They will also be involved in mouse efficacy studies and target validation of prioritized compounds. In addition, the post-holder will assist in studies attempting to quantify compound exposure levels within the parasite and compound metabolism by the parasite. The post-holder will work alongside other PDRAs and be supported by up to two Research Assistants (to be appointed to the project) and will be expected to undertake some supervisory duties of staff and students, as needed.

Aberystwyth University operates a state‑of‑the‑art facility, ‘Roboworm’, for identifying new starting points for schistosomiasis drug discovery. Roboworm enables the automated analysis of anthelmintic phenotype and motility at a capacity of approximately 200,000 tests per annum. The post-holder will be required to operate the Roboworm Platform and other associated laboratory equipment and will be responsible for; preparation of compounds for use on the screening platform, driving the screening process, collecting the output data via dedicated software, collating and interpreting the research data and drafting research manuscripts for publication in high quality journals. The post-holder will be expected to travel nationally and internationally to attend project development meetings and communicate research findings and to generally contribute to the success of the project’s wider research programme on a global scale. Hours will predominantly be worked during Monday – Friday, however, occasional evening or weekend work may be required.