In which I hire

A colleague I respect very highly once likened academic careers to a rocket launch: once you hit escape velocity, you’re safely in orbit. Problem is, achieving this state as a post-doc or untenured faculty is becoming increasingly difficult. Hundreds of eminently qualified people can apply for a prestigious fellowship, and the difference between the one who succeeds and the rest who fail can be as thin as a piece of paper.

Enterococcus bacteria invading a human bladder cell, from Horsley et al., 2013

My personal career rocket has just acquired a significant booster. The lab recently secured substantial funding for an exciting project requiring two post-docs for four years each to study host/pathogen interactions in chronic urinary tract infection. Both posts are now being advertised and the closing date is 2 July. The first post is geared more toward novel therapies and translational research, while the second is a more basic science-oriented cell biology project. Any experience in host/pathogen interactions in another system would be a plus.

My lab works at the multidisciplinary interface between basic cell biology, clinical research, biotechnology and engineering to develop better treatments and diagnostics for this serious global health problem, with a strong “bedside to bench and bench back to bedside” ethos. Current lab interests focus on bacterial invasion and reservoirs, biofilms, antibiotic resistance, human tissue organoid models, innate immunity, and collaborative efforts to develop novel nano- and micro-capsule-based local treatment strategies – one of which has attracted Series A industrial funding towards pre-clinical and clinical trials. If you’re interested, do consider applying. If you know someone else who might be, please spread the word. There’s a lot more information in the links below:

Research Associate in Novel Therapeutic Delivery Systems 1649602

Research Associate in Host-Pathogen Interactions 1649603

Come fly with me!