Postdoctoral Research Associate

Description:

The Tropical Disease Biology Department at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is seeking to appoint a highly motivated and talented Postdoctoral Research Associate to join our dynamic and interdisciplinary research team.

The successful candidate will contribute to cutting-edge research focused on the development of next-generation vaccines and immunotherapies for emerging infectious diseases. This role will involve leading the development of strategies to enhance intramuscular delivery, integrating multidisciplinary approaches that bridge novel synthetic nucleic acid and protein design with pharmacokinetic analyses, potency assessment, and immune modulation.

This post offers an excellent opportunity to work within a world-leading institution dedicated to improving global health through innovative biomedical research.

Applicants with experience in in vivo gene therapy and/or respiratory pathogens are strongly encouraged to apply.

Key Responsibilities Will Include

Molecular design and cell biology
 

• Design and optimise synthetic nucleic acid constructs and proteins encoding monoclonal antibodies, vaccine immunogens, or other therapeutic proteins
• Molecular cloning, including optimising and validating a barcoding strategy to refine intracellular tracking
• Establish and maintain muscle cell cultures, optimise transfection methods, and apply advanced biochemical and imaging techniques to study protein-proteins interactions and cellular processes associated with protein folding.
   

Preclinical potency and efficacy testing
 

• Implement small animal models to conduct pharmacokinetic, biodistribution, and infection studies
• Evaluate immunogenicity using cellular, virology, and molecular assays (e.g. ELISA, flow cytometry, ELISpot, virus neutralization assays)
• Optimise and refine muscle and lung tissue analysis (e.g. imaging, RNA-seq)
• Work closely with the team and collaborators to develop, optimise, and validate in silico and in vitro predictive models for in vivo delivery
• Troubleshoot and optimise experimental workflows
   

Data analysis, dissemination, and management
 

• Maintain rigorous laboratory records, detailed documentation and data organisation
• Analyse experimental data using statistical and visualization tools (e.g., FlowJo, GraphPad, R/Python)
• Prepare project reports, presentations, manuscripts, and assist in preparation of funding applications
• Participate and engage with academic and industry partners to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration