Senior Research Officer

The Senior Research Officer will work closely with the Principal investigator (Prof. Vassiliy Bavro, School of Life Sciences) to conduct research with the interdisciplinary partner teams from OptiVaNTS, and in particular liaising with the team of Prof. Adam Cunnigham (University of Birmingham, UK) to analyse and identify antigen targets of protective antibodies on the outer membrane of Salmonella, feeding from system serology studies, and supervise and organise the large-scale expression of a number of proteinaceous targets, including a number of anticipated integral membrane proteins. The SRO will be responsible for structural characterisation and immunological characterisation of the antigens in animal models of infection (in conjunction with the team of Prof. Cunningham), and optimisation of expression constructs with the view of packaging these for use in potential vaccine candidates. The Senior Research Officer will support reporting requirement of the project and collaborate with
the other OptiVaNTS co-investigators.

The successful candidate will hold a relevant doctoral level degree in Protein Chemistry, Structural biology, Biophysics or related discipline, or be close to completion of a PhD in above areas. You will also hold a BSc or MSc in Biology, Biophysics, Biochemistry, Genetics, Structural Biology or related discipline.

We are looking for a candidate experienced in protein chemistry and recombinant protein production, specifically with experience in expression and purification of membrane proteins. Sound understanding of protein structure and protein engineering is also required, and the candidate should be confident in their ability to problem-solve and organise this ambitious and multifaceted project. The appointee will lead on experimental laboratory work, data analyses, and publication writing. Previous experience with biophysical methods for protein-protein interactions and quality control of structural biology samples will be a bonus.

The University of Essex is a partner in the Wellcome Trust Innovation Flagships project OptiVaNTS - Optimising Vaccination for invasive non-Typhoidal Samonella (iNTS) Disease in Africa. This multidisciplinary project is focussed on the identification of the molecular determinants of iNTS Salmonella infection and corresponding correlates of immunological protection, leading to optimised vaccine development. Other partners include the teams of Prof. Adam Cunningham (Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, UK; Lead institution); Prof. Melita Gordon (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Liverpool, UK) and Dr Ryan McNamara (Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard, US).

£37,099 to £40,521 per annum