Postdoctoral Fellow – Influenza Vaccine
Location: 120 Veterinary Road, Saskatoon, Saskatechwan, Canada, S7N 5E3
Contract Length: 2-year term, with the possibility of extension
Salary: The starting salary will follow the university standard for a post-doctoral researcher and will be commensurate with experience.
About the Role
Dr. Aneesh Thakur, Principal Investigator, Laboratory of Vaccine Engineering, and Immunology (LVEI) is seeking an outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow focusing on Influenza vaccine development to join his team.
H5N1, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), also known as bird flu, is a serious disease and requires rapid response because it is highly contagious and often fatal to chickens. Most efforts to develop vaccines against H5N1 infection in chickens have relied on traditional vaccine platforms that do not induce a strong immune response and provide only limited immunity due to rapid virus mutation and rearrangement. Messenger RNA is a promising vaccine technology to develop novel H5N1 vaccines in chicken. Moreover, aerosol delivery of mRNA can generate protective immunity in the lungs against HPAI. However, little is known about how to design safe mRNA vaccines for administration in the respiratory tract and how to achieve potent airway mucosal immunity. The purpose of this project is to develop and test an inhalable mRNA vaccine against H5N1 infection in chicken. The project will combine approaches in drug delivery, immunology, virology, and in vivo infection models to achieve the objectives.
Essential experience and skills
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PhD (completed in the past three years) in Immunology, Drug Delivery, or another related discipline
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Hands-on experience with formulation, cell culture, flow cytometry, and molecular biology techniques
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Team player with excellent oral and written communication skills
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Effective organizational and time management skills
Desirable experience and skills
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Experience in the formulation and characterization of nanoparticles
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Experience in animal experimental trials especially chicken
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Experience in in vitro transcription and RNA purification
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Experience working with biosafety level 3 pathogens
The selected candidate will have the opportunity to be trained in world class containment level 3 facilities and at Vaccine Development Centre, the GMP vaccine manufacturing facility at VIDO.