Graduate Fellowship – Call for Applications for PhD Fellow in Molecular and Cell Biology

Project: Improved vaccines for the control of East Coast fever in cattle in Africa
Location: Nairobi (Kenya)
Duration: 4 years (January 2014 to and December 2017)

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) www.ilri.org works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality livestock science, communications and capacity building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development. ILRI is one of 15 Centres of the CGIAR Consortium, a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. www.cgiar.org

Infectious livestock diseases feature prominently among the constraints that impede livestock agriculture. East Coast fever (ECF) caused by the protozoan parasite Theileria parva ranks first among tick-borne diseases of cattle in Africa, and kills one animal every 30 seconds. It has a devastating impact on pastoralists and smallholder farmers because it can kill within 3-4 weeks of infection. ECF is endemic in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa where roughly 28 million cattle are at risk, but has the potential to spread further with the movement of infected cattle because the distribution of the tick vector and suitable tick habitats are wider than that of the parasite. About one million cattle die of ECF each year resulting in annual losses of $300 million. The goal of the ECF project is to design subunit vaccines for the control of ECF.

The position: The ECF project is providing a PhD Studentship, in the field of molecular and cell biology, whose focus will be the identification and characterization of novel Theileria proteins involved in cell invasion and genes that play a role in host entry. This studentship is within the ILRI Vaccine Biosciences (ILVAC).

Responsibilities:

• Review relevant and recent literature on apicomplexan proteins involved in cell entry and invasion and those that fall into clusters of orthologous genes (COGs) with Plasmodium and Toxoplasma genes.
• Clone and express such T. parva genes raise specific antisera to them and use them in sporozoite neutralization assays (SNA) to determine if they play a role in host cell entry.
• Test in cattle whether the new antigens selected by SNA can mount a protective antibody response against a lethal sporozoite challenge.
• Write up research results in a format suitable for publication as PhD Thesis and in peer reviewed journals.

Essential Skills and Qualifications will include:

• An MSc degree obtained not more than 3 years ago (or equivalent degree level) in the field of molecular biology, genetics and microbiology.
• Good working knowledge of standard tools for sequence characterization
• Working knowledge of standard procedures in molecular biology and microbiology.
• Knowledge of standard bioinformatics packages used for gene and data analysis.
• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal communication in English including web based communications.
• Good interpersonal skills and the ability to perform in a multicultural environment and as part of a multidisciplinary team.

Terms of appointment and stipend:

The successful candidate will be supervised by a senior scientist in the ILVAC group and the university supervisor. However, in the ILVAC group, he or she will also have access to many other ILRI researchers so as to develop his or her research. ILRI will provide a stipend of US$1,000/month to the successful candidate, economy return air ticket to Nairobi, plus travel allowance when on duty travel out of the duty locations, as well as insurance. ILRI will pay for the costs of research-related travel.

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Closing date: 15 November 2013 or until a suitable candidate is selected.

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a letter from your university attesting your student status,1 page description of your research proposal and a recommendation letter from your university supervisor. All applications should be submitted online on our portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer. Suitably qualified women and citizens of developing countries are particularly encouraged to apply.