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LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE (University of London) FACULTY OF INFECTIOUS AND TROPICAL DISEASES DEPARTMENT OF IMMUNOLOGY AND INFECTION 1. ADVERTISEMENT FULL TIME RESEARCH FELLOW / PART TIME LECTURER IMMUNOPARASITOLOGY/MOLECULAR PARASITOLOGY We are seeking to appoint an immunologist to contribute to an NIH-funded research programme entitled “PRISM – Programme for Resistance, Immunology and Surveillance of Malaria in Uganda” which includes field studies in Uganda, Africa as well as laboratory work at LSHTM and at the University of California, San Francisco. The successful applicant will have a PhD in immunoparasitology or molecular parasitology, research experience in human immunoparasitology and a record of high quality publications in peer-reviewed journals. They will also have prior experience in sero-epidemiology and/or overseas field research. The post is funded by the National Institutes of Health USA for a period of 9 months in the first instance and is available from 1st October 2012. If the successful candidate is appointed at Lecturer level, the post will be funded part-time at 3½ days per week (0.7 FTE). If appointed at Research Fellow level, the post will be funded full time (1.0 FTE). Salary at Lecturer level is from £41,627 to £47,652 pro rata (per annum inclusive) and at Research Fellow level from £35,661 to £36,387 (per annum inclusive). Applications should be made on-line via our website at jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The reference for this post is CD-IMP. Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until midnight of the closing date. Any queries regarding the application process may be addressed to [email protected]. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal opportunities employer 2. GENERAL INFORMATION The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is one of Europe’s leading schools of Public Health and a leading postgraduate institution worldwide for research and postgraduate education in global health. Part of the University of London, the London School is the largest institution of its kind in Europe with a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise encompassing many disciplines. The School was ranked one of the top 3 research institutions in the country in the Times Higher Education’s 'table of excellence', which is based on the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). In 2009, the School became the first UK institution to win the Gates Award for Global Health. The School’s environment is a rich multicultural one: there are almost 4000 students from 100+ countries following 22 taught masters courses delivered either in London (~650) or through distance learning (~2700), and undertaking research degree training (~400). Over 40% of these students are from non-European countries. The largest growth has been in distance learning students (>40% over 3 years), though the London-based student population (where accommodation limits growth) is at its highest level ever. Alumni are working in more than 180 countries. The School has about 1500 staff drawn from over 60 nationalities. There are research collaborations with over 100 countries throughout the world, utilizing our critical mass of multidisciplinary expertise which includes clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, social scientists, economists, molecular biologists, immunologists, ophthalmologists, anthropologists, virologists, pharmacologists and nutritionists. At any one time around 100 School staff are based overseas, particularly in Africa and Asia. We have a strong commitment to partnership with institutions in low and middle income countries to support the development of teaching and research capacity. The School has expanded greatly in recent years. Its research funding now exceeds £67M per annum, much of it from highly competitive national and international sources. The commitment of staff to methodological rigour, innovative thinking and policy relevance will ensure that the School continues to occupy a leadership position in national and global health, adapting quickly to new challenges and opportunities. Mission 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. Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases The Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases encompasses all of the laboratory-based research in the School as well as that on the clinical and epidemiological aspects of infectious and tropical diseases. It is headed by Simon Croft, who is Professor of Parasitology. The range of disciplines represented in the Faculty is very broad and inter-disciplinary research is a feature of much of our activity. The spectrum of diseases studied is wide and there are major research groups with a focus on malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, vaccine development and evaluation, and vector biology and disease control. The Faculty is organised into four large research departments comprising: Pathogen Molecular Biology, Immunology and Infection, Disease Control, and Clinical Research. There is close interaction between scientists in different research teams. The Faculty has strong overseas links, which provide a basis for field studies and international collaborations in developed and developing countries. The teaching programme includes MSc courses, taught in-house and by distance learning, which are modular in structure, a variety of short-courses and an active doctoral programme (PhD and DrPH). Department of Immunology and Infection (Head: Professor Eleanor Riley) Research in the Department of Immunology and Infection centres on analysis of the host response to infection at the molecular, cellular and population levels. The goals are to develop a greater understanding of basic mechanisms of immunological protection versus pathology, and to apply this knowledge to the development of immunological interventions and the identification of correlates of immune status. Our work involves application of state-of-the-art cellular and molecular approaches to the in vitro analysis of pathogen-host cell interactions, to in vivo studies in models and to the study of immunity at the population level in disease endemic areas. Main areas of research include the regulation of acute and chronic inflammation; macrophagepathogen interactions; cellular pharmacology; the production of cytokines during innate and acquired immune responses; T-cell function and antigen recognition; the mechanisms of immunopathology; the development of vaccines; and delivery systems for vaccines and drugs. Current research includes the role of acute phase proteins in resistance to infection, homeostasis and inflammatory disease, mechanisms of macrophage activation, control of cytokine synthesis and mammalian lectin interactions (J. Raynes); intracellular trafficking and secretory pathways of cells of the immune system (T. Ward); the role of innate responses in resistance to the bacterial pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Burkholderia pseudomallei, activity and regulation of natural killer cells and their effect on macrophage activation and recruitment, regulation of chemokine receptors during infection and granulomatous tissue responses in the lung against Cryptococcus neoformans and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (G. Bancroft); correlates of protection against tuberculosis and studies of BCG vaccination, human CD8+ T-cell responses to mycobacterial antigens and synthetic peptides, use of whole blood assays in immuno-epidemiology (H. Dockrell); cytokine and chemokine responses to leprosy, cellular composition and effects of steroids on skin and nerve lesions of reactional leprosy, identification of specific peptides for immunodiagnosis of leprosy (S. Young); innate and adaptive immunity to malaria including activation of natural killer cells, cytokine regulation in clinical immunity and immunopathology, regulation of antibody production and immunoglobulin class switching (E. Riley); using anti-malarial antibodies as a marker of malaria exposure and assessment of the use of sero-epidemiology to monitor and target malaria control measures (C. Drakeley); transmission of Plasmodium falciparum malaria including antibody responses to gametocyte-infected erythrocyte surface antigens, effect of gamete antigen variability on transmission, gametocyte sequestration and development and gametocyticidal drug therapy (C. Sutherland); characterisation of protective immune mechanisms and defined antigens in attenuated vaccine models of schistosomiasis (Q. Bickle); impact of concomitant viral, bacterial, protozoal and helminth infections on induction of immune responses and immunopathology and T cell regulation and induction of mucosal immune responses during intestinal nematode infections (H. Helmby); the identification and evaluation of novel drugs and drug delivery systems for leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis and malaria, and the interaction between antiprotozoal drugs and the immune response (L. Vivas, V. Yardley). Department of Pathogen Molecular Biology (Head: Professor John Kelly) Research in the Department of Pathogen Molecular Biology focuses on the molecular biology and genetics of pathogens and their hosts in the context of improving the understanding and control of infectious diseases. Aspects of pathogen biology of interest include: (i) determining the mechanisms of infection of globally important viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens; (ii) deciphering the genetic diversity of selected disease agents in natural populations and to determine its epidemiological impact; (iii) studying immune evasion mechanisms of particular disease agents; (iv) exploiting parasitic, bacterial and viral pathogens as model biological systems; and (v) developing practical applications including improved diagnostic tests and the identification and characterisation of vaccine candidates and drug targets. PMBD currently has funding to investigate, amongst others, the malaria parasite (Plasmodium spp), Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi), African sleeping sickness (Trypanosoma brucei), amoebic dysentery (Entamoeba), the Leishmania species, bacterial food borne pathogens (Campylobacter jejuni and Yersinia enterocolitica), gastric ulcers/cancer (Helicobacter pylori), pseudomembranous colitis (Clostridium difficile), plague (Yersinia pestis), paddy field melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei), Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), Pneumonia (Streptococcus pneumoniae), Bluetongue viral disease of livestock, Herpesviridae, SARS, the hemorrhagic fever virus (RVFV) and the enteric rotavirus that cause significant diarrhoeal disease in infants developing countries. The long-term aim of PMBD research is to gain a fully rounded understanding of the complex and dynamic ways by which pathogens modulate virulence and interact with the human host. Such a holistic approach will vastly increase the scope for the rational of design of long-term intervention strategies to reduce the burden of infectious disease. In recent years such a mission has been significantly enhanced by the availability of whole genome sequences. Members of the Department are, or have been, involved in several pathogen genome projects including Herpes, Campylobacter jejuni, Yersinia pestis, Clostridium difficile, Entamoeba and Trypanosome species. In particular, post genome studies have facilitated research on more complex parasites such as Plasmodium, Entamoeba and Trypanosome species. The interpretation and exploitation of this basic information is the platform for numerous new avenues of research on pathogenesis, epidemiology and the evolution of virulence. Department of Clinical Research (Head: Prof Alison Grant) The Department of Clinical Research addresses infectious diseases of major public health importance in developing countries. Activities include trials of new therapies, vaccines and educational interventions; the development of new diagnostic tests; studies to elucidate the immunological and molecular correlates of pathogenesis and protective immunity, and to identify genetic polymorphisms conferring protection or susceptibility to infectious diseases; health services research which aims to identify the most efficient and cost-effective way to deliver health care; and health policy analysis. In addition to our many overseas collaborations, we have close links with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, in new, purpose-built accommodation on the main UCL Hospital campus, five minutes walk from the School. The Wellcome Trust Bloomsbury Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine is based in the Department, and currently supports five Clinical Training Fellows and two Career Development Fellows, most of whom are based overseas. Much of the Department’s research concerns HIV and related infections; in particular, the interaction between HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, and between HIV infection and tuberculosis. We have longstanding and fruitful collaborations addressing these issues in Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda and South Africa. Brian Greenwood FRS is leading an initiative to strengthen malaria research in the School through new collaborative links in Africa. Research and teaching on blinding diseases in developing countries has been greatly strengthened by the recruitment of Allen Foster, who is Medical Director of CBM International, an NGO with programmes for the prevention of blindness and disability in over 100 countries; our research on trachoma has played an important part in framing the strategies adopted by the WHO and the new International Trachoma Initiative for the elimination of blinding trachoma by the year 2020. Department of Disease Control (Head: Dr Mark Rowland) This multidisciplinary Department includes epidemiologists, entomologists, anthropologists and social scientists, clinical scientists, public health engineers, and geographers. This range of expertise provides us with a battery of tools for focusing on the control of diseases that are insect-borne, water-borne or associated with poor hygiene – mostly in developing countries. Much of the research can be categorised as: evaluating disease control interventions; investigating implementation strategies - including working with the private sector; understanding the factors underlying household behaviour in relation to family health; or determining how control resources can be targeted most efficiently. Particular attention is paid to research directed at current health policy issues, including the gap between policy and practice. The DFID Resource Centre for Water and Environmental Health (WELL) and the Hygiene Centre make up the Department’s Environmental Health Group, which plays a leadership role in research and operational support for hygiene promotion, water supply and sanitation. The Department also houses the largest research group in LSHTM working on malaria control, including the DIFD Team for Applied Research to Generate Effective Tools and Strategies for communicable disease control (TARGETs) and the Malaria Capacity Development Consortium (MCDC). The Department’s valuable mosquito colonies are used for testing repellent products and insecticides in the laboratory. The Department also includes a major grouping of researchers using spatial analysis in public health. Teaching The School offers 22 one year full-time taught courses leading to the Master of Science (MSc) degree of the University of London and the Diploma of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (DLSHTM). The Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases runs or contributes substantially to ten of these courses and the “Immunology of Infectious Diseases” course is run from within the Department of Immunology and Infection. In addition, the Faculty is responsible for the three-month Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) and offers a range of specialist short courses lasting usually one or two weeks. Three MSc courses are also offered by Distance-based Learning, including one on Infectious Diseases. Research Training The School offers two doctoral training programmes. The MPhil/PhD degrees are designed for those who wish to go on to a full time research career. The DrPH is directed towards those who expect their careers to be more in the practice of public health. 3. THE RESEARCH PROGRAMME The aim of this research is to provide a longitudinal assessment of the malaria burden in Uganda. The programme comprises integrated epidemiology, entomology and immunological components. This post is associated with the latter and aims to develop and test immunologic assays to assess malaria exposure and protection. Exposure to Plasmodium falciparum leads to an immunologic response, the breadth and magnitude of which increases with repeated exposures. This increasing immunologic response gradually provides protection from disease (symptomatic illness), and eventually from infection (parasitaemia), in those living in malaria endemic areas. Recent studies have capitalized on the relationship between P. falciparum exposure and the immune response to show that it may be possible to estimate transmission intensity in a community by measuring the prevalence of antimalarial antibodies at particular ages. While promising, these initial serologic models are limited in that they have been designed to estimate the average transmission intensity in a population over a period of years. With increasing implementation of malaria control efforts in Uganda, transmission intensity may change rapidly, and changes may vary substantially over small spatial scales. Immunologic assays able to capture this temporal and spatial heterogeneity would provide valuable tools for the surveillance of changing malaria transmission and estimate the impact of control interventions. In addition, changes in a population’s exposure to malaria leads to changes in the degree of immune protection which alter the relationship between exposure and disease in a complicated fashion. Assays designed to assess immunologic protection directly would help predict the impact of changing transmission on the burden of disease. A major barrier to developing immunologic assays to assess malaria exposure is lack of knowledge about the fundamental relationship between P. falciparum infection and the resulting immune response, including which biomarkers are most important and how quickly markers change in response to changing exposure. Even less is known about markers of protection, and there are currently no reliable biomarkers to assess the degree of protection in an individual or community. We are in a unique position to provide these needed tools to the malaria research community, with ongoing research using protein microarrays to broadly characterize the serologic response to P. falciparum antigens, access to three existing, well characterized cohorts in Uganda encompassing a wide range of exposure, and surveillance studies occurring at six sites throughout the country which will be performed as part of Research Project 1 of this proposal. Using data and samples from these studies, we propose the following aims: Specific Aim 1: To characterize the individual-level relationships between P. falciparum exposure, the immune response, and protection from disease in Ugandan cohorts. Specific Aim 2: To develop and validate immunologic assays for estimating the population-level dynamics of exposure to P. falciparum in surveillance studies performed throughout Uganda. Specific Aim 3: To develop and validate immunologic assays for estimating the population-level dynamics of disease in response to changing P. falciparum exposure in surveillance studies performed throughout Uganda. 4. JOB DESCRIPTION Post: Full time Research Fellow / Part time Lecturer Grade: Academic Pathway Grade 6 at 1.0 FTE / Academic Pathway Grade 7 at 0.7 FTE Responsible to: Dr Chris Drakeley Department: Immunology and Infection (IID) Start date: 1st October 2012 / As Soon As Possible Hours of work: There are no fixed hours of work for academic staff. Staff are expected to work such hours at such times as are reasonably required to carry out the duties associated with the post, but not less than 35 hours per week for a full-time appointment. Accountability: The post holder will be responsible to the Programme Principal Investigator, Dr Chris Drakeley, the Head of Department (currently Professor Eleanor Riley) and the Head of Faculty (currently Professor Simon Croft). Main duties and responsibilities: Conducting research within an NIH-funded research programme entitled “PRISM: Programme for Resistance, Immunology and Surveillance of Malaria in Uganda” which includes field studies in Uganda, Africa as well as laboratory work at LSHTM and at the University of California, San Francisco Contributing to other projects on malaria serology Contributing to laboratory management to a degree commensurate with experience Disseminating research findings through international meetings and peer-reviewed publications Assisting with training and supervision of doctoral students (PhD and/or DrPh) and academic visitors in research as appropriate Assisting with supervision of MSc student projects Playing an active part in the academic life of the School and participating in departmental and faculty activities including participation in seminar programmes and laboratory meetings Any other reasonable duties as requested by the line manager, Head of Department or Head of Faculty. Teaching: Contributing to the Faculty teaching programme, up to 10% of his/her time per annum for a Research Fellow post, or 15% for a Lecturer, subject to the policy of any funding agency (by agreement, some staff may make a greater contribution than this). 5. PERSON SPECIFICATION Essential: PhD in immunoparasitology/molecular parasitology Research experience in humoral immunology and sero-epidemiology A record of high quality publications in peer-reviewed journals commensurate with experience Demonstrable skills and experience with development and implementation of serological assays for antibodies to infectious agents A meticulous approach to carrying out experiments and to recording of data, protocols and daily activities Excellent time management, organisation and communication skills, including written and spoken English Computer literate, e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint and statistical software Demonstrable ability to work independently and as part of a team Demonstrable ability and prior experience of working with people from diverse backgrounds in a multicultural environment Flexibility in terms of working practice, role and working hours Willingness to travel and to spend periods working at field sites in remote locations in Uganda Ambitious, self-motivating and with an open and friendly personality Desirable: Prior experience of working with human samples Prior experience of working with malaria Prior experience of working with Luminex or Microarray Working knowledge of analytical packages for analysing large datasets Experience of recombinant protein production in different expression systems and product validation Experience of field work in a malaria endemic setting Experience of supervision of students, technical staff and laboratory management Sufficient numerical and mathematical skills to manage large data sets and become adept at standard statistical analyses Evidence of teaching and student supervision 6. SALARY AND CONDITIONS OF APPOINTMENT: The appointment will be made on the Academic Pathway Grade 6 or 7, on a salary from £35,661 to £36,387 (per annum inclusive) for Grade 6 at 1.0 FTE, or from £41,627 to £47,652 (per annum inclusive) on a pro rata basis at Grade 7 at 0.7 FTE. The successful candidate will be placed on the scales according to skills and experience. The post is funded for 9 months in the first instance with the possibility of an extension. Annual leave entitlement is 30 working days per year for all staff (pro-rata for part-time staff). In addition to this there are 6 fixed-date "Director's Days". 7. APPLICATIONS Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The reference for this post is CD-IMP. Applications should also include the names and email contacts of 2 referees who can be contacted immediately if shortlisted. Any queries regarding the application process may be addressed to [email protected]. 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. An answer to any of the criteria such as “Please see attached CV” will not be considered acceptable. Please note that if you are shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview date it may not be possible to offer you an alternative date. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal opportunities employer