Research Assistant

King's College London - Department of Infectious Diseases

About Us

The KCL School of Immunology & Microbial Sciences and its Department of Infectious Diseases are internationally recognised for the broad spectrum of approaches they use to understand infectious diseases and improve health and well-being. The School and Department host world leaders in immunology, pathogen molecular biology and host-pathogen interactions, encompassing a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and experience. The Department is based on the Guy's campus, enabling strong connections with clinical units at the adjacent Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Trust. The Department has fully managed tissue culture, microscopy, flow cytometry and molecular biology facilities that will be used in the project.

Research in the Sumner lab aims to elucidate virus interactions with the host innate immune system, particularly how viruses are sensed by innate immune receptors and how viruses evade these processes. We use large DNA viruses such as poxviruses and herpesviruses, that dedicate a large proportion of their coding capacity to the expression of innate immune antagonists, as powerful tools for discovery.

About the role

We are seeking a highly motivated candidate with a degree in a relevant subject (e.g. Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Biochemistry, Immunology, Microbiology, Molecular biology) to support a multidisciplinary research programme investigating various aspects of antiviral innate immunity. The successful candidate will work closely with the PI and current group members to support their work, as well as to develop their own independent project. The lab uses a combination of molecular techniques (e.g. transcriptomics, proteomics, luciferase-based reporter assays, immunoblotting, RT-qPCR, microscopy, generation of recombinant viruses) to study innate immunity in the context of viral infection. Prior experience in some of these techniques and general cell culture experience is desirable.

Innate immunity provides an important first line of defence, sensing viruses through pattern recognition receptors and activating inflammatory and anti-viral pathways that promote viral clearance. To be successful, viruses must evolve mechanisms to evade and antagonise these processes, particularly the production and actions of interferons (IFN). Beyond infection, growing evidence suggests that innate immunity also plays important roles in many disease contexts such as cancer, autoimmunity and inflammatory disorders, as well as during homeostasis. Understanding how innate immunity is activated and regulated is key to developing novel treatment strategies for these diseases, as well as to fight infection.

Our current research programme aims to address three main themes/questions, using viruses with a DNA component to their life cycle (poxviruses, including mpox, herpesviruses, lentiviruses) as tools for discovery:

• How are viruses sensed by host cells (particularly by DNA sensors such as cGAS) and how do viruses evade detection and innate immune activation?
• Which innate immune proteins act as barriers to infection, particularly against zoonotic viruses, and how do viruses overcome them?
• How is innate sensing regulated during homeostasis (e.g. during cell division) and subsequently dysregulated during viral infection/in diseases states such as cancer?

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week) and you will be offered a fixed term contract for 11 months.

Please address any informal queries to rebecca.sumner@kcl.ac.uk