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Post-doctoral Fellowship in Molecular Pathology / Immunopathology

Employer
Global Academy Jobs
Location
Brazil
Closing date
Oct 25, 2019

Job Details

A post-doctoral Scholarship is available to work on the project UK:Brazil Joint Centre Partnership in leishmaniasis (JCPiL). This project is a partnership between Brazilian (Hiro Goto, Tropical Medicine Institute of University of São Paulo's Medical School - IMTSP/USP) and UK (Paul Kaye, University of York) laboratories. The post-doctoral fellow will study Molecular pathology of leishmaniasis: towards host-directed therapy in leishmaniases at the Brazilian laboratory but will also spend periods of time in the UK laboratory.

About the project

The leishmaniases are parasitic diseases caused by one of several species of single cell parasites (Leishmania) that are transmitted to humans by the bite of infected sand flies. These diseases affect over 150 million people across 98 countries worldwide. Some forms of leishmaniasis are fatal, whereas others are very stigmatising and affect the quality of life. Few drugs are available for patients and no vaccines are currently registered for use in preventing or treating these diseases. Importantly, the drugs that we do have are not universally effective and often have significant side effects. Sometimes patients even in the same geographical area will respond quite differently to therapy. In this proposal, we will use new molecular approaches to perform deep phenotyping on tissue samples collected from patients with various forms of leishmaniasis to analyze cellular and molecular elements engaged in pathogenesis and treatment response, with the purpose of identifying host and parasite targets that could be the focus for developing novel therapies.

The aim of this project involves understanding the pathophysiology of the diverse forms of leishmaniasis found in Brazil focusing on deep phenotyping of patients, comparing cutaneous and mucosal lesions of patients with American tegumentary leishmaniasis and visceral leishmaniasis. The project will determine the immune profile across the disease spectrum using new multiplex immunohistochemistry and RNA-FISH assays, Nanostring whole tissue transcriptomics and Nanostring Digital Spatial Profiling.
The project will deliver new data on immune mechanisms operating in the diverse forms of leishmaniasis, and on the parasite response. The identified pathways could be the focus for developing novel therapies.

Requirements
  • Applicants must have a Ph.D. in Tropical Medicine, Parasitology, Immunology, Molecular Biology or related fields. Preference will be given to individuals with proven experience in molecular parasitology/immunopathology.
  • The candidate should have experience with projects involving humans and experimental mouse models and/or in vitro host cell-parasite assays.
  • The position requires proven experience in fieldwork in endemic areas, including epidemiological surveys or follow up of patients, sample collection, samples processing for pathological, immunohistochemistry and molecular biology, and diagnostic techniques such as direct research, parasite culture, ELISA, IFI, and PCR.
  • The candidate should also demonstrate experience in molecular techniques including DNA/RNA extraction from fresh biopsy and formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) sections, Real Time PCR, diagnosis based on qPCR to identify the Leishmania species and / or training on RNA-FISH assays.
  • Candidates should be creative, personally motivated, have excellent oral and written communication skills and a sense of teamwork.
  • It is mandatory that applicants are fluent in English.

The selected candidate will receive a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from FAPESP (explicit details are at www.fapesp.br/en/5427).

Eligible destination country/ies for fellows:
Brazil

Eligibility of fellows: country/ies of residence:
All

Eligibility of fellows: nationality/ies:
All

Company

Global Academy Jobs works with over 250 universities worldwide to promote academic mobility and international research collaboration. Global problems need international solutions. Our jobs board and emails reach the academics and researchers who can help.

"The globalisation of higher education continues apace, driving in turn the ongoing development of the global knowledge economy, striving for solutions to the world’s problems and educating a next generation of leaders and contributors."

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