Open Positions

Virology Post Doctoral Fellowship Position. Posted on September 16, 2021

UPDATE: January 2022. This position has been filled. Thank you for all your interest.

Link to PDF of position.

Position Available: Postdoctoral Fellow, virology
Location: University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine, laboratory of Dr. Lark Coffey
Responsibilities: The Fellow will work on projects involving mosquito-borne chikungunya virus and SARS-CoV-2. Chikungunya virus studies will involve developing and implementing an assay to define the viral mutation rate. The SARS-CoV-2 projects will involve testing viral variants in humanized mouse models in collaboration with the UC Davis Mouse Biology Program as well as studies to evaluate candidate COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics in mouse and hamster models. The Fellow will also be encouraged to develop related independent projects. The position includes work in biosafety level (BSL)-2 and BSL-3 laboratories. The Fellow should be comfortable working inteamenvironment. The successful Fellow will conduct experiments, analyze data, and prepare manuscripts. The Fellow should be able to perform independent research with minimal supervision. Most of the Fellow’s effort will be in person given the necessity of virus work in contained settings. Computer-based work can be conducted off campus, if desired, although an office or desk in the laboratory will be provided.
Qualifications: Candidate Fellows must have a Ph.D. or equivalent and should have experience with molecular virology including cloning and qRT-PCR as well as infectious small animal work. Prior animal biosafety level 3 (ABSL-3) experience is preferred. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required. Environment:The Fellow will have opportunities to synergize with other research groups in the Schools of Veterinary Medicine and Medicine at UC Davis, the California National Primate Research Center, and other collaborating institutions. This includes teams with expertise in arbovirology, respiratory virus biology, therapeutic development and testing, host-pathogen interactions, and disease pathogenesis. UC Davis is ranked 10th nationally among public universities in research funding and 4th in college rankings. UC Davis and our laboratory are committed to supporting a diverse community of scholars with an emphasis on recruiting scholars who will make contributions to diversity through advancement of underrepresented minority populations in science. We aim to foster an environment that is founded on inclusion, transparency, and respect among all team members. More information about our laboratory team can be found here. The city of Davis has a population of 68,000 and The University’s student population is approximately 32,000. The campus lies adjacent to the city of Davis, 14 miles west of Sacramento, 72 miles northeast of San Francisco, and 110 miles southwest of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra mountains. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to multiple research and academic institutions providing additional collaborative opportunities.
Start date and salary: This position expected to begin as soon as possible but not after January 2022. Compensation will be commensurate with experience according to the University of California pay scale. The initial appointment will be for 1 year with potential for renewal.
Application Process: Interested candidates are encouraged to send an application that includes the following: 1) a letter stating qualifications, career goals and specific interests or research questions that could enhance the team, 2) curriculum vitae,3) writing sample (published paper or grant), and 4) contact information for at least three references, to lcoffey@ucdavis.edu.

 

 

 

NSF EEID  Post Doctoral Fellowship Position. Posted on September 9, 2021

UPDATE: January 2022. This position has been filled. Thank you for all your interest.

Post-doctoral Fellowship in Emerging Infectious Disease Epidemiology Position

Scope:

The Epicenter for Disease Dynamics at the One Health Institute in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis is seeking a post-doctoral researcher interested in the impacts of environmental change on the epidemiology, ecology and evolution of zoonotic diseases. Activities will focus on a new National Science Foundation Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases project “Impacts of Rapid Landscape Change and Biodiversity on Virus Host Specificity.”Primary responsibilities relate to both theoretical and data-informed modeling of virus evolution and transmission across landscape changes in Southeast Asia. This is a 3-year post-doctoral position, expected to begin January 2022 based at UC Davis with opportunities for collaboration and co-mentorship across the PIs on this project including Christine Kreuder Johnson (UCD), Tierra Smiley Evans (UCD), Lark Coffey (UCD), Michael Boots (UC Berkeley), and Rebekah Kading (CSU).

Project Overview:

This study investigates the impacts of deforestation, landscape change, and biodiversity on virus characteristics that determine zoonotic potential, including virus “host plasticity”, which is the diversity of host species a virus can infect in nature. Findings from this research will contribute to ecological theory on the impact of environmental changes on microbial adaptation, with practical implications for management of ecosystems at high risk for pathogen spillover. Investigations will evaluate host range of bat-borne coronaviruses and mosquito- borne arboviruses (flaviviruses, alphaviruses and bunyaviruses) in the biodiverse tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Activities will include theoretical and computational modeling, underpinned by field investigations and in vitro experiments, to develop data and model driven insights into the role that mosquito vectors play in constraining or expanding virus host plasticity and genetic diversity. Characterization of bat-borne coronaviruses and host affinities in an ecosystem with SARS-CoV-related viruses will further inform on coronavirus evolution and emergence of zoonotic potential. This position will conduct research in a team science setting that is especially relevant to development of an evidence-base on the relationship between environmental change, biodiversity, disease outbreaks, and pandemics to underpin public policy.

65% SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

§ Contribute to designing field studies to investigate virus host plasticity, evolution and transmission across forest gradients in Southeast Asia;

§ Develop methods and analyses to evaluate surveillance strategies to detect zoonotic pathogens at high-risk interfaces for disease emergence;

§ Analyze metadata on emerging zoonotic diseases, high-risk human-animal contact, and ecological risk and conduct data analyses needed to train models for emerging disease prediction;

§  Develop advanced analytical techniques and associated programming capabilities for infectious disease modeling, predictive frameworks, and social network analyses;

§  Conduct independent research and produce high quality scientific manuscripts related to biosurveillance and the ecology of emerging infectious disease.

35% PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

§  Provide disease expertise, technical support, data analyses, and data-sharing tools for zoonotic disease prediction and biosurveillance projects;

§  Provide epidemiologic expertise to field staff in other countries on study design, data collection, data management, data analysis and interpretation, and publication preparation;

§  Contribute to regular summaries of surveillance data, assist in development of data collection and data management tools; and ensure open communication and coordination with international partners in project implementation;

§  Travel to international field sites to work with field staff, participate in field activities, and attend scientific meetings as needed.

Skills needed:

Background in infectious disease epidemiology or disease ecology and strong quantitative skills in biostatistics, epidemiology, and mathematical modeling with knowledge of animal health and wildlife disease. Experience with statistical software including R and STATA, as well as ability to write code for programming, including Python. Experience conducting independent, applied scientific research on infectious diseases with a promising publication track record.

Education:

PhD in biology, ecology, epidemiology, or related life-science (required)

Application:

Please email cover letter and CV by September 30th to:
Tierra Smiley Evans, DVM, PhD and Christine Kreuder Johnson, VMD, PhD EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics | One Health Institute
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
530-752-1238
tsmevans@ucdavis.edu, ckjohnson@ucdavis.edu

Link to PDF of announcement here.