Senior Research Associate

Department Overview

The Landfear laboratory within the department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology (MMI) studies single cell parasites, primarily Leishmania and the related African trypanosomes. Leishmania parasites are responsible for the widespread group of neglected infectious diseases collectively called leishmaniases (e.g., visceral leishmaniasis and cutaneous leishmaniasis), which afflict an estimated 12 million people globally. The related African trypanosomes, Trypanosoma brucei, cause African sleeping sickness in humans, a lethal disease, and nagana, an important veterinary disease in cattle.

Function/Duties of Position

• Molecular biological studies on Leishmania parasites, including tagging of genes with various epitopes, knocking out genes, generating various recombinant DNA constructs for mapping of regions of protein involved in trafficking, etc.
• Protein-protein interaction studies to identify proteins that are critical for targeting of membrane proteins to the Leishmania flagellum.
• Cell biological studies to localize proteins within the parasite and to study the mechanism of their trafficking to the parasite flagellum.
• Studies with murine models of Leishmania infection to determine the effects of various gene knockouts on the ability of the parasite to infect a mammalian host.
• Analysis of data from each of the above types of experiments.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in relevant field AND 1 year of relevant experience OR
• Master's Degree in relevant field AND 5 years of relevant experience OR
• Bachelor's Degree in relevant field AND 9 years of relevant experience
• Previous work with molecular and cellular biology
• Working with recombinant DNA, assembling recombinant constructs, transfection of constructs into cells, experience with CRISPR/Cas9 methods of gene editing in parasites, microscopic analysis

Preferred Qualifications

• Some additional postdoctoral experience in the field

All are welcome

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