Post Doctoral Research Associate in Viral Immunology (93175) in Liverpool

Post Doctoral Research Associate in Viral Immunology (93175)

Location: Liverpool, UK

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Full-time, fixed-term appointment to 30th September 2029

Postdoctoral Research Associate role at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Involves conducting and leading primary research on canine enteric coronavirus

Requires expertise in viral immunology, serology, and genomics

Salary: £39,906 - £46,049 p.a. (starting salary will be within the range of £39,906 - £41,064)

Full-Time, Fixed-term appointment to 30thSeptember 2029

This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious and highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate to join a newly established research group at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine investigating the immunology, evolution and biology of canine enteric coronavirus (CECoV). Funded through a BBSRC New Investigator Award, the project combines viral immunology, functional virology, receptor biology and pathogen genomics to better understand how CECoV evolves, adapts and potentially acquires the ability to infect new hosts.

The successful candidate will play a leading role in the delivery of the research programme, designing and conducting experiments focused on antibody responses, viral entry mechanisms and viral evolution. Working closely with the Project Lead, they will contribute to experimental design, data analysis and interpretation, while also helping to coordinate the day-to-day activities of a Research Technician. The role offers an excellent platform for developing scientific independence, leadership skills and expertise across a broad range of disciplines within infectious disease research.

Key responsibilities will include:

Conduct and Lead Primary Research

• Designing, planning and conducting experimental studies in consultation with the Project Lead.
• Developing and optimising novel and existing laboratory methodologies.
• Independently troubleshooting complex technical and experimental problems.
• Generating, analysing and interpreting high-quality experimental datasets.
• Identifying scientific questions and hypotheses arising from emerging results.
• Integrating findings across immunology, viral entry biology and genomics.

Viral Immunology and Serology

• Developing and qualifying ELISA and other binding assays to characterise antibody responses
• Establishing and applying pseudotype-based neutralisation assays to investigate the potency and breadth of canine antibody responses.
• Generating and normalising CECoV spike-pseudotyped particles representing circulating and experimentally modified viral variants.
• Investigating the functional consequences of spike mutations, including mutations affecting N-linked glycosylation.
• Developing approaches to investigate the specificity and functional activity of polyclonal antibody responses.
• Supporting the development and application of Fc-effector assays, including ADCC, ADCP and complement-related functional measurements.
• Integrating antibody binding, neutralisation and Fc-function data to identify immunological correlates associated with broad or restricted responses.

Viral entry and receptor biology

• Developing and applying cell-based assays to investigate CECoV spike-mediated entry.
• Generating and characterising viral spike variants using molecular cloning and site-directed mutagenesis.
• Supporting the generation and characterisation of engineered cell lines, including receptor knockout and complementation approaches where appropriate.
• Identifying viral variants, mutations and recombination events of potential functional importance.
• Integrating genomic data with serological and viral entry phenotypes.
• Prioritising viral variants and mutations for downstream functional testing.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

• Analyse experimental data using statistical and visualization tools (e.g., FlowJo, GraphPad, R/Python).
• Developing appropriate analysis workflows for serological, neutralisation, entry and sequencing datasets.
• Maintain detailed lab records and documentation.
• Prepare internal and external reports, presentations, and manuscripts.
• Contribute to data sharing and collaborative discussions.

Ideally you will demonstrate:

• Hold a PhD/DPhil in virology, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, pathogen genomics or a closely related discipline
• Experience in general molecular biology techniques, cell biology
• Experience with phylogenetic or evolutionary analysis
• Hands-on expertise with flow cytometry, viral entry assays, and serological assays
• Experience maintaining stocks of mammalian cells
• Experience working with bioinformatic pipelines and/or scripting languages
• Experience writing research papers and submitting to journals for publication

(For a full list of essential and desirable criteria please refer to the job description and person specification)

For an informal discussion on the job please contact: Richard.Urbanowicz@lstmed.ac.uk

Additional benefits of joining LSTM:

• Access to support for your career growth through a variety of internal and external learning and development opportunities
• Employee Assistance Platform offering a range of wellbeing initiatives and support, in addition to high-street discount offers
• 30 days annual leave, plus 8 UK bank holidays, in addition to 6 Christmas closure days
• Generous occupational pension schemes including USS (Universities Superannuation Scheme) and NHS pension schemes (subject to eligibility)
• Government backed “cycle to work” scheme
• Affiliated, discounted staff membership to the University of Liverpool Sports Centre
• A range of enhanced family friendly policies