美国西北大学招收病毒学博士后

Postdoctoral Fellow : Chicago, IL, United States

Postdoctoral positions in mRNA translational control during virus infection

Postdoctoral positions are available on an NIH funded research project to study the regulation of mRNA translation during poxvirus infection under the supervision of Dr. Derek Walsh. Dr. Walsh is a newly appointed Associate Professor at the Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, located in the heart of downtown Chicago.

Recruitment of ribosomes to mRNAs is regulated by an array of eukaryotic translation initiation factors. Control of gene expression at the translational level functions in many important biological processes including rapid responses to environmental changes, developmental programs, cellular transformation, neuronal plasticity and viral infection. Indeed, no matter how self-sufficient in other processes they may be, all viruses remain absolutely dependent on gaining access to host ribosomes. This forms the crux of a host-pathogen battle to control translation factor activity that plays a central role in determining the outcome of infection. Understanding these events provides invaluable insights into the lifecycle of these pathogens and host antiviral responses, as well as basic mechanisms of translational control. Our work focuses on how translation factors regulate both host and viral mRNA translation during infection with Vaccinia Virus, a poxvirus closely related to Variola Virus, the causative agent of smallpox. Poxviruses are large double-stranded DNA viruses that replicate in the cytoplasm. Our previous work has shown that poxviruses redistribute specific host translation factors to sites of virus replication and activate upstream signaling pathways to stimulate translation factor activity, thereby facilitating viral protein synthesis and replication. Our ongoing work is focused on understanding how poxviruses accomplish this, as well as its contribution to regulating viral protein production and host responses to infection.

Candidates must have a PhD or equivalent with research experience in one or more of the following areas: virology, cell biology, fluorescence microscopy, molecular biology. Intersted applicants should submit a complete CV, a brief description of their research, and the name and contact details for three referees to derek.walsh@northwestern.edu.

Applications will be reviewed immediately until suitable candidates are identified, with start dates as early as August 2014.