PhD Studentship (4 years), Reiner Laboratory

Posting Expiry

 

A 4-year PhD studentship is available in the Laboratory of Dr. Neil Reiner.

University of British Columbia

Location: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Areas of interest

The Reiner laboratory is concerned with host defense against intracellular infection and how intracellular microbes disrupt cellular functions to favor their survival. One of the major interests in laboratory is to understand the strategies used by intracellular pathogens to effectively prevent macrophage activation. Very recently, we identified c-Myc as a novel virulence factor by proxy, contributing to leishmania pathogenesis. An important objective is to investigate how this c-Myc driven strategy may otherwise be used by leishmania to affect cell regulation leading to altered macrophage phenotype. Also, studies are in progress to examine the role of PI3K as a master regulator of innate immunity to leishmania, and the contributions of small, non-coding RNAs to leishmania pathogenesis.

The successful candidate will be able to work independently and he/she must be creative in solving experimental challenges, and in experimental design. It is expected that he/she will also have a strong research-ethical approach. The successful applicant must be able to communicate fluently in English (in speaking and writing). Appointment to a PhD studentship position requires admission to the PhD programme in Experimental Medicine at UBC.

The period of funding is 4 years with a possibility of an extension for one more year

Interested individuals should send a cover letter, CV, and the names/phone numbers of three people who could provide letters of reference by email to nreiner@mail.ubc.ca.