Salary scale: £30,747 to £35,646 per annum (pro rata if part time).
Applicants are invited for the position of Fixed Term Research Officer in the School of Medicine, reference 5597.
The research project involves work on infection and immunity in the endometrium. This project is part of a €3.2 million ERA-Net research consortium to prevent uterine disease, under the leadership of Professor Martin Sheldon. The successful applicant will join the reproductive immunobiology group (see
www.crib.swansea.ac.uk) working in state of the art research facilities in the Institute of Life Science (
www.ils.swan.ac.uk). The School of Medicine is based in one of the most beautiful areas of the country with outstanding career, lifestyle and recreational opportunities.
Bacterial infections of the uterus after parturition in dairy cattle cause infertility, costing the EU dairy industry €1.4 billion per year. There are currently no vaccines or prevention strategies. However, new knowledge about innate immunity, Toll-like receptors and recent work by our Research Consortium has identified potential strategies to prevent uterine disease. This project aims to translate these novel strategies to limit the impact of uterine disease. The Research Consortium involves Swansea University, University of Glasgow, Hannover University in Germany and INRA in France, and industry.
This 3-year project aims to refine in vitro and ex vivo models of endometrial infection and innate immunity, and test candidate strategies to prevent uterine disease. The appointee will be involved in exploring the innate immune responses of reproductive tissues. This will involve mechanistic studies using endometrial cells and explants, gene and protein expression analysis, immuno-cytochemistry and cell signalling investigations.
Suitable candidates should hold a PhD in immunology or the biological sciences, have mammalian cell culture experience, and be competent with molecular and cell biology techniques. Knowledge of innate immunity and evidence of peer-reviewed publications are important.
It is anticipated that interviews will be held week commencing 31 January 2011.
Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Professor Martin Sheldon + 44 (0)1792 602709 or
[email protected] An application form and further details may be obtained, quoting the appropriate reference, from the Human Resources Department, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, tel. (01792) 295136 (24 hours) or at
http://www.swansea.ac.uk/hr/Vacancies/.
Closing date: Thursday 6 January 2011.
We are an equal opportunity employer aiming for diversity in our workforce.
