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Research Associate, Department of Infectious Diseases

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
£38,304 – £45,026 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
13 Jun 2021

Job Details

Research Associate, Department of Infectious Diseases

Job ID: 022524

Salary: £38,304 – £45,026 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance

Posted: 11-May-2021

Closing date: 13-Jun-2021

Business unit: Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine

Department: Department of Infectious Diseases

Contact details: Professor Michael Malim , 02078489606, michael.malim@kcl.ac.uk 

Guy's Campus   Research    


Job description
SARS-CoV-2 continues to infect millions of people worldwide, with devastating consequences for global health. While vaccination and immunity  arising from natural infection are effective in controlling and limiting new infections, there is an urgent need to understand the threats and risks associated with emerging viral variants. In response, eleven UK research groups have established “G2P-UK; A National Virology Consortium to address phenotypic consequences of SARS-CoV-2 genomic variation”. Led by investigators from Imperial College London, King’s College London, the Glasgow Centre for Virus Research and the Pirbright Virology Institute, G2P employs multi-disciplinary approaches to define the altered viral phenotypes of emerging variants, aiming to understand the genetic, molecular and cellular basis for those alterations. These results will inform public health policy and clinical practice, including treatment strategies, diagnostics and infection control, and vaccination.
 
We seek to recruit an enthusiastic and highly motivated post-doctoral researcher to join the G2P team at King’s College London to work in the labs of Michael Malim, Katie Doores and Stuart Neil in the Dept of Infectious Diseases. The role holder will join an interactive team of post-doctoral fellows and post-graduate students studying innate and adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and pathways of immune evasion. Initial projects will include characterising viral infections in cell culture, serological and virus neutralisation assays with patient and vaccinee samples, and the isolation and characterisation of human monoclonal antibodies. 
 
The appointee will be expected to display academic and technical leadership and innovation, leading to research publications, presentations at international meetings/ conferences, and applications for extra-mural research funding.
 
This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract for 18 months.
This is a full-time post.

Key responsibilities 

  • The use of a wide range of laboratory techniques and experimental strategies to meet the objectives outlined above. Essential to this will be the willingness to work with infectious SARS-CoV-2 in CL3 facilities.
  • The post holder will conduct a range of serological assays to investigate humoral immune responses to SARS-CoV-2.
  • The post holder must be willing and able to interact with collaborators and other members of the Dept working on related projects. 
  • The post holder will be expected to exercise initiative in project planning, development and delivery and work without close supervision.

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post. 

Skills, knowledge, and experience

Essential criteria 

  • PhD or medical equivalent (e.g., MRCP, MRCPath, MD) 
  • Knowledge of contemporary virology techniques, including some (or all) of the following areas: cell biology, immunology, biochemistry (e.g., protein purification), molecular biology, structural biology & bioinformatics 
  • Knowledge of working with infectious agents in CL3 facilities 
  • Willingness to learn new methodologies
  • Evidence of 4* research output or potential 
  • To participate actively in the planning, execution and interpretation of research projects 
  • Possess a strong reputation in previous field of study for innovation, accuracy and productivity 
  • Ability to communicate effectively with clinical and academic colleagues; at King’s College London and externally 
  • Ability to self-motivate and work flexible hours 
  • Ability to work co-operatively and collegially as a team member 

Desirable criteria 

  • Experience of working with cultured mammalian cells
  • Experience with serological assays, protein expression and purification. 
  • Experience with molecular biology techniques including PCR and DNA sub-cloning 
  • Planning and preparation of applications for research funding 
  • Peer reviewed publications in high impact virology journals 

This post is subject to Occupational Health clearance.  

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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