Research Fellow - Institute of Inflammation and Ageing

Position Details

Institute of Inflammation and Ageing

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £30,395 to £39,609. With potential progression once in post to £42,036 a year.

Fixed term contract for 36 months

Closing date: 21 July 2019

Role Purpose

To create and contribute to the creation of knowledge by undertaking a specified range of activities within an established research programme and/or specific research project namely:
Does hospitalisation of older patients with severe community acquired pneumonia and sepsis (CAP+S) lead to long term immunoparesis?

The Institute of Inflammation and Aging (IIA) is a University of Birmingham facility embedded within the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham which has the largest single critical care complex in Europe, co-locating 100 beds, 37 consultant critical care specialists, and 450 nurses that is 1 floor above the Institute's state of the art lab complex. The 80 bedded acute medical unit is 20M across the corridor for the respiratory laboratories. We believe that it is the best place in Europe, if not the world, to undertake challenging translational experimental medicine science such in this project. For the clinical study proposed there is significant support in terms of a 24/7 research nurse team who will identify patients for the study.

Our overarching aim is to test our hypothesis that an episode of CAP+S in patients over 50 years old causes age-related immunoparesis in both the innate and adaptive immune system that is driven by modification of gene expression in neutrophils, is persistent after hospital discharge, predisposes to secondary infection and maps to adverse longer-term outcomes. To achieve this, we will conduct a translational study in a cohort of CAP+S patients admitted to hospital recruited both in and outside ITU and will address the following research aims:

1. To assess CAP+S related changes in neutrophil and lymphocyte phenotype and function and to define the time course of changes induced by CAP+S. We will serially assess survivors to determine the persistence of these effects and their relationship to clinical outcomes.
2.To understand the mechanisms of any witnessed change. We will use advanced transcriptomic analysis of neutrophils to identify variation in gene expression following CAP+S. The results will inform mechanistic and functional studies of relevant intracellular signalling pathways to relate the transcriptome signal to phenotype and function.
3. To determine whether immunoparesis following CAP-S reflects pre-existing immunoparesis in susceptible adults or develops de novo following infective insult, and to link immunoparesis to poor outcomes following secondary infection. We will assess how age related changes in mouse bone marrow neutrophils are influenced following an episode of acute infection and whether the persistence of these effects exaggerates the severity of a secondary bacterial challenge with S. Aureus.

We have a clear pathway to impact with this research which we strongly believe will provide ways to improve outcomes for older patients who survive a hospitalised episode of community acquired pneumonia with sepsis.
This post would suit an early career postdoctoral fellow. The applicant must be flexible in terms of late finishes and be prepared to recruit patients Monday-Friday.
The post will be supported by clinical and nursing staff within the department to ensure that sample collection and processing is optimised.

Main Responsibilities

The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below:
• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines

Scope of the Role

• Work within specified research grants and projects and contribute to writing bids
• Operate within area of specialism
• Analyse and interpret research findings and results
• Contribute to generating funding
• Contribute to licensing or spin out deals with demonstrated commercial success (such as revenues, asset or company sales, IP generated) and/or public understanding of the discipline or similar
• Deliver research presentations to international and national conferences

Planning and Organising

• Contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project
• Co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort

Decision Making

• Decide in consultation with the principal investigator as appropriate, on the most appropriate way of undertaking the specified research activities
• Decide in consultation with the principal investigator as appropriate how to analyse and interpret the data from the specified research activities
• Decide in consultation with the principal investigator as appropriate what knowledge to draw on and how to apply it to develop new intellectual understanding
• Contribute to deciding what information to include in a bid for research funding and how to present the bid to maximise the likelihood of securing the funding
• Decide in collaboration with co-authors which aspects of the research findings to include in a presentation or a publication and how to convey the findings
• Give guidance, support and advice to students on research related work including PhD students and decide the most appropriate method of providing this supervision.

Internal/External Relationships

• Liaise with research staff and support staff on research-related matters
• Liaise with external collaborators on the research, where appropriate
• Give presentations and/or contribute to presentations at national and/or international conferences
• Referee articles for peer-reviewed academic journals
• Maintain contact with (including membership of) appropriate professional bodies
• Liaise with the relevant external research community via seminars and conferences
• Participate in internal networks for the exchange of information and to form relationships for future collaboration
• Liaise with external clients of the University or members of the public

Skills and Experience

• First degree in area of specialism (2.1 or 1 class honours) and normally, a higher degree relevant to research area or equivalent qualifications
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes
• Flexibility for early starts and late finishes is essential
• Willingness to work with mouse models of lung disease. Ideally would have experience of relevant murine models.
• Personal Home Office Animal licence holder