ABOUT US

We are seeking a pre-doctoral research assistant to join Prof. Mahdad Noursadeghi’s team in the Innate2Adaptive research group (https://www.innate2adaptive.uk) within the Division of Infection and Immunity at UCL.
Our group comprises a multi-disciplinary team of clinician and non-clinician scientists with expertise in laboratory science, human experimental medicine and bioinformatic/computational methodologies. Our work focuses on the immunology of infectious diseases, aiming to identify biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic applications, and enabling development of novel vaccines and therapeutics.
The Division of Infection & Immunity at UCL hosts >40 principal investigators with world leading expertise in molecular virology, pathogen genomics and evolution, innate immune host-pathogen interactions, tuberculosis, viral immunology, translation of T cell receptor transgenics, T cell immunoregulation and immunology of transplantation, immunology of ageing, primary immunodeficiencies and computational immunology.

ALL APPLICATIONS MUST INCLUDE A SUPPORTING STATEMENT TO EXPLAIN YOUR MOTIVATION FOR THE POST AND PROVIDING EVIDENCE USING EXAMPLES TO SHOWCASE HOW YOU MEET THE ESSENTIAL CRITERIA LISTED IN THE JOB DESCRIPTION. APPLICATIONS WITHOUT A SUPPORTING STATEMENT WILL BE REJECTED.

If you have any queries about the role or application process, have any technical issues, or need reasonable adjustments or a more accessible format to apply for this job online, please contact the staffing team at hr.ii@ucl.ac.uk.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The post is supported by Wellcome Trust, Royal Society and National Institute for Health Research grants focussing on T cell and macrophage immunology and treatment stratification in tuberculosis. We aim to (1) develop new approaches to stratify disease risk and preventive antibiotic therapy in people who become infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb); (2) inform the design of next-generation vaccines; and (3) identify novel targets for immunotherapies.
The post-holder will be responsible for laboratory experimental work encompassing molecular and cellular biology, immunological assays, host transcriptional profiling by RNA/T cell receptor sequencing, and assays of Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth/restriction. Specific objectives will include (1) evaluation of novel flow cytometric T cell assays to discriminate different stages in the natural history of Mtb infection and predict risk of disease; (2) identification of pMHC targets of public T cell metaclones and testing the relationship between TCR-pMHC affinities and T cell function; (3) exploring the mechanisms by which T cells and macrophage interactions contribute to protective and pathogenic immunity and mechanisms by which macrophage restriction of Mtb can be augmented; (4) developing a laboratory processing pipeline to enable biomarker-stratified preventive treatment for tuberculosis in a pilot randomised-controlled trial.
The project involves close collaborations with additional data science, laboratory and computational immunology groups at UCL (led by Dr Rishi Gupta, Prof. Benny Chain, Prof. Hans Stauss and Dr Andreas Mayer), and our project partners in South Africa (Dr Al Leslie and Dr Munya Musvosvi) and in Madagascar (Dr Paulo Ranaivomanana).
The post-holder will benefit from personalised career development support with access to senior faculty and peer mentorship. They will receive protected time for bespoke training and professional development, documented, actioned, monitored and iteratively revised through induction and annual appraisal meetings. Depending on prior experience, we will provide access to core training (provided by established UCL modules) in research ethics and governance, data security/governance, research statistics, writing and presentation skills. There will be provision for training in coding skills for complex data analysis and to facilitate open-science by publishing source data and analysis pipelines. Introductory and advanced training incorporating database management, statistical analyses, data visualisation and modelling/machine learning are available at UCL. Where required, we will allocate time and funding for external taught courses, including personal development activities, such as EDI and public engagement projects, personal coaching or leadership training, and research management training as appropriate. In addition, the post-holder will be encouraged and enabled to attend and present their work at relevant research conferences, including at least one international meeting per year, participate in associated satellite meetings/sessions aimed at early career researchers, and to develop a professional peer-network independent of the project.
The appointment will be for 2 years in the first instance, with the possibility of extension and/or registering for a part-time PhD degree. Informal enquiries regarding the vacancy can be made by email to Prof. Mahdad Noursadeghi (m.noursadeghi@ucl.ac.uk).

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days’ annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insuranc