LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
(University of London)
FACULTY OF INFECTIOUS AND TROPICAL DISEASES
DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL RESEARCH
FURTHER PARTICULARS
1. ADVERTISEMENT
Research Technician to work on the host response Chlamydia trachomatis infection
We are looking for a Research Technician to join our research programme on
trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness. The programme includes studies
on immune responses to antigens of Chlamydia trachomatis and their relationship to
the clinical signs and outcome of ocular C. trachomatis infection, on virulence
determinants of C. trachomatis, on the genetic determinants of susceptibility to
blinding disease and on the epidemiology and control of trachoma. Applicants
should have B.Sc/M.Sc in immunology/microbiology and be willing to work overseas
when required.
The post is funded at 1.0 FTE for a period of 12 months from October 2011. Salary
is £26,457 per annum, inclusive.
Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The
reference for this post is MH-2. Applications should also include a CV and the
names and email contacts of 2 referees who can be contacted immediately if
shortlisted. Closing date for applications is Friday 12 August 2011. Any queries
regarding the application process may be addressed to jobs@lshtm.ac.uk. Please
quote reference MH-2.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal
opportunities employer
2. GENERAL INFORMATION
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is one of Europe’s leading
schools of Public Health and a leading postgraduate institution worldwide for
research and postgraduate education in global health.
Part of the University of London, the London School is the largest institution of its
kind in Europe with a remarkable depth and breadth of expertise encompassing
many disciplines. The School was ranked one of the top 3 research institutions in the
country in the Times Higher Education’s 'table of excellence', which is based on the
2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), ahead of the London School of
Economics, Oxford, Imperial and University College, London. The institution also
achieved the largest increase in ranking compared with 2001, of any of the top 10
institutions in the RAE rankings. In 2009, the School became the first UK institution to
win the Gates Award for Global Health.
The School’s environment is a rich multicultural one: there are almost 4000 students
from 100+ countries following 22 taught masters courses delivered either in London
(~650) or through distance learning (~2700), and undertaking research degree
training (~400). Over 40% of these students are from non-European countries. The
largest growth has been in distance learning students (>40% over 3 years), though
the London-based student population (where accommodation limits growth) is at its
highest level ever. Alumni are working in more than 180 countries. The School has
about 1400 staff drawn from over 60 nationalities.
There are research collaborations with over 100 countries throughout the world,
utilizing our critical mass of multidisciplinary expertise which includes clinicians,
epidemiologists, statisticians, social scientists, molecular biologists, immunologists,
ophthalmologists, anthropologists, virologists, pharmacologists and nutritionists. At
any one time around 100 School staff are based overseas, particularly in Africa and
Asia. We have a strong commitment to partnership with institutions in low and middle
income countries to support the development of teaching and research capacity.
The School has expanded greatly in recent years. Its research funding now exceeds
m£62.4 per annum, much of it from highly competitive national and international
sources. The commitment of staff to methodological rigour, innovative thinking and
policy relevance will ensure that the School continues to occupy a leadership position
in national and global health, adapting quickly to new challenges and opportunities.
Mission
The School's mission is to contribute to the improvement of health worldwide
through the pursuit of excellence in research, postgraduate teaching and
advanced training in national and international public health and tropical
medicine, and through informing policy and practice in these areas."
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases
The Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases encompasses all of the
laboratory-based research in the School as well as that on the clinical aspects of
infectious and tropical diseases. The faculty is headed by Simon Croft, who is
Professor of Parasitology. The range of disciplines represented in the department is
very broad and inter-disciplinary research is a feature of much of our activity. The
spectrum of diseases studied is wide and there are major research groups with a focus
on malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, trachoma,
vaccine development and evaluation, and vector biology and disease control. The
Faculty is organised into four large research departments comprising: Pathogen
Molecular Biology, Immunology, Disease Control and Vector Biology, and Clinical
Research. There is close interaction between scientists in different research teams.
The Faculty has strong overseas links, which provide a basis for field studies and
international collaborations in developed and developing countries. The teaching
programme includes MSc courses, taught in-house and by distance learning, which
are modular in structure, a variety of short-courses and an active doctoral programme
(PhD and DrPH).
Department of Clinical Research
The Department of Clinical Research addresses infectious diseases of major public
health importance in developing countries. Research includes trials of new therapies,
vaccines and educational interventions; the development of new diagnostic tests;
studies to elucidate the immunological and molecular correlates of pathogenesis and
protective immunity, and to identify genetic polymorphisms conferring protection or
susceptibility to infectious diseases; health services research which aims to identify the
most efficient and cost-effective way to deliver health care; and health policy analysis.
The Wellcome Trust Bloomsbury Centre for Clinical Tropical Medicine is based in the
Department. We have longstanding and fruitful research collaborations in The
Gambia, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda and South Africa.
The Chlamydia Research Group
The Chlamydia research group in the Department of Clinical Research at LSHTM
currently includes two Professors of Infectious Diseases, a Senior Lecturer in
Immunology, a senior lecturer and a clinical lecturer in ophthalmology, a post-doctoral
scientist working on immunogenetics, and a higher scientific officer. The group is
supported by Programme grants from the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation.
Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia
Established over 50 years ago, the Medical Research Council Laboratories in The
Gambia represents the UK’s major public investment in medical research in
developing countries and has established an international reputation for research on
malaria, viral and bacterial diseases. The overall goal of the Unit is to improve the
health of people in developing countries by aiming for excellence in research,
healthcare and training. The research programme of the Unit spans basic scientific
research (immunology, microbiology, virology and molecular biology), clinical studies,
large epidemiological studies and intervention trials (to GCP and GCLP standards),
and translational research. The field and laboratory-based work draws on excellent
research and clinical facilities and attracts international funding. The Unit has an
established staff complement of about 200 scientists, clinicians and senior
administrative staff from many parts of the world, as well as hosting many visiting
researchers, and over 500 support staff. There are also field stations upcountry –
Basse, Keneba, Walikunda (in The Gambia) and Caio (in Guinea Bissau) - each in a
different ecological setting, providing varied research opportunities. The Unit has close
links with a number of overseas institutions including the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine.
Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania
The Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), founded in 1971, is a referral
teaching hospital serving 13 million people in Northern Tanzania. It has a large
medical school and a training centre for allied health professions. The hospital has 450
beds, busy outpatient clinics (including ophthalmology), routine clinical laboratories
and a new biotechnology laboratory (BTL) that was funded by the Gates Foundation.
KCMC is a partner in a number of research collaborations with partners from
elsewhere in Tanzania, East Africa, Europe and North America. Much of this research
focuses on infectious disease including TB, HIV and Malaria. Over the last decade
KCMC has worked in collaboration with the LSHTM on a Trachoma research project
focusing on the effect of mass antibiotic treatment. More recently a new phase of this
collaboration (LSHTM / KCMC Trachoma Project) has begun which is concentrating on
studying the immunopathogenesis of the disease, which is necessary for the rational
development of a trachoma vaccine. The field work component is being carried out in
trachoma endemic communities within one hour’s drive of Moshi, in partnership with
the Kilimanjaro Regional Eye Care Programme. The laboratory work is based at the
KCMC BTL, which has extensive facilities for immunological assays, microbiology and
gene expression analysis.
3. JOB DESCRIPTION
Post:
Research Technician – Chlamydia research
Grade:
PSP 4 - £26,457
Responsible to:
Dr Martin Holland, co-investigator on the Project
Department:
Clinical Research
Start date:
1st October 2011 to 31st September 2012
This post is funded by a programme grant from the Wellcome Trust to Prof David
Mabey, Prof Robin Bailey, Dr Matthew Burton and Dr Martin Holland at the LSHTM
with collaborative sites in The Gambia (the Medical Research Council and the
Gambian National Eye Care Programme) and Tanzania (Kilimanjaro Christian
Medical Centre)
The post holder will be based at the LSHTM. S/he will be responsible for the
laboratory investigations of the host epithelial cell response to infection with
Chlamydia trachomatis. This includes the isolation and propagation of laboratory and
clinical strains of Chlamydia trachomatis, quantitation and typing of clinical samples
using molecular methods. Quantitation of the host cell response using a number of
molecular techniques such as expression profiling and signal transduction assays.
The post holder will be expected to develop and register for a Ph.D degree, in
collaboration with the trachoma research group at LSHTM, in the field of host
epithelial cell responses to infection with the intracellular parasite C. trachomatis.
The post is funded for 1 year in the first instance.
Duties and responsibilities:
 Passage of Eukaryotic host cell lines
 Isolation and passage of laboratory and clinical isolates of chlamydia.
 Assist in the development of an overall work plan, timetable of studies and
experiments in conjunction with Dr Martin Holland and the Trachoma group
 To work to Standard Operating Procedures and develop new SOPs in line
with good clinical laboratory practice
 Keep the laboratory organised and free of hazards in line with health and
safety procedures.
 Develop further work relevant to the project, in particular follow up ideas and
new techniques that evaluate host cell responses to infection and the role of
pathogen specific factors
 Assist in drafting manuscripts for publication and presentations at
international conferences
 Assist in the development of research proposals to provide further funding
 Willingness to spend time overseas on collaborative projects
 Willingness to spend time in UK based collaborative laboratories
 Register for a Ph.D
Person specification:
Essential:
1. Masters Degree in Immunology/infectious disease.
2. Experience or willingness to be trained in relevant techniques such as PCR
and cell culture
3. Ability to record experimental details and analyse results
4. Excellent written and oral communication skills
5. Proficiency in word, PowerPoint etc
6. A flexible approach to working hours
7. Ability to work with colleagues from a wide variety of backgrounds and
cultures
Desirable:
1. Degree in biology
2. Administrative skills
3. Ability to work to deadlines
4. Ability to organise his/her own work and where necessary organise others
5. Interest in searching scientific literature relevant to the project, in particular
new ideas and techniques
Applications
Applications should be made on-line via our website at http://jobs.lshtm.ac.uk. The
closing date is Friday 12 August 2011 and the reference for this post is MH-2.
Online applications will be accepted by the automated system until 10pm of the
closing date. Any queries regarding the application process may be addressed to
jobs@lshtm.ac.uk.
The supporting statement section should set out how your qualifications, experience
and training meet each of the selection criteria. Please provide one or more
paragraphs addressing each criterion. The supporting statement is an essential part
of the selection process and thus a failure to provide this information will mean that
the application will not be considered. An answer to any of the criteria such as
“Please see attached CV” will not be considered acceptable.
Please note that if you are shortlisted and are unable to attend on the interview date
it may not be possible to offer you an alternative date.
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is committed to being an equal
opportunities employer.