Research Fellow, School of Human Development and Health

Nutrition, Endocrinology & Metabolism

Location: Southampton General Hospital
Salary: £34,314 per annum
Full Time Fixed Term (until 07/09/2024)
Closing Date: Friday 09 June 2023
Interview Date: To be confirmed
Reference: 2288523AF

School of Human Development and Health

An opportunity has arisen for a Research Fellow to join the Faculty of Medicine, School of Human Development and Health based at Southampton General Hospital campus. The successful candidate will join a research team involved in the application of metabolomics to study how gene-environment interactions impact on the metabolic system, and how such perturbations influence health and disease. This research spans several disciplines including the areas of human development, global health, infectious diseases, gastrointestinal microbiology, nutrition, and oncology. 

This project aims to characterise the metabolomic alterations induced by Giardia lamblia infections and to determine how gut microbiota influence G. lamblia disease outcomes in the earliest stages of life and across major early life transitions. This project is in collaboration with research partners at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Giardia lamblia is a globally distributed intestinal parasite and children are the highest risk group for infection. Where G. lamblia is most prevalent, nearly all children are exposed, and infections during infancy are very common. Importantly, infection in the first six months of life associates with poor growth and intestinal injury. However, it is unknown whether and how this parasite leads to these outcomes in children. Animal models of G. lamblia infection suggest that disease may be in part due to parasite-induced alterations in the resident intestinal microbiota. 

The post holder will be required to acquire, process, and analyse metabolomic data from biological samples generated by the project team to identify relevant spectral features and metabolic pathways associated with infection, the gut microbiota, and developmental outcomes.

The role requires expertise in analytical chemistry, specifically mass spectrometry.

The successful candidate should have experience in omics-technologies, biochemistry, bioinformatics, or infectious diseases.

This full-time position is offered for a fixed-term for 18 months in the first instance.  The post will be aligned to the Faculty of Medicine, School of Human Development and Health based at Southampton General Hospital campus and Highfield campus. 

For further information please contact Professor Jonathan Swann (j.swann@soton.ac.uk).

Applications will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification. The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon completion of PhD.  Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

Further details:

• Job Description and Person Specification

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applicants who supports our mission of inclusivity.

Apply by midnight on the closing date. For assistance contact Recruitment on +44(0)2380 592750 or recruitment@soton.ac.uk quoting the job number.