Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have a background in protein functional studies? Are you interested in exploiting multidisciplinary approaches to address challenging biological questions? Do you want to further your career in one of the UK's leading research-intensive universities?

We are looking for a highly motivated BBSRC-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join a dynamic, interdisciplinary team, focusing on employing protein engineering, surface biophysical techniques and high resolution imaging to elucidate mechanisms underlying multivalent interactions inducing protein clustering on surfaces and modulating immune cell signalling. You will actively work with supervisors from the Schools of Food Science & Nutrition Chemistry, Physics & Astronomy and Chemical & Process Engineering. The supervision team has strong track records (see example papers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 10833; 2020, 142, 18022; 2022, 144, 17346; Nature Chem. 2020, 12, 832; Angew. Chem. 2022, 134, e202206919; JACS Au, 2023, 3, 1755; Adv. Mater. 2021, 33, 2008307) and complimentary expertise and skills in this research field.    

You will be responsible for producing recombinant proteins, anchoring them onto supported-lipid bilayers, monitoring how ligand binding induces protein clustering and re-arrangement, and correlating results with cellular function outcomes. The project aims to deepen our understanding on how extracellular multivalent binding signals are transmitted across cell membranes and regulate immune cell functions, allowing us to manipulate immune responses as potential effective treatments against infectious and autoimmune diseases and other immune dysregulation diseases, including cancer.

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Dr Yuan Guo 

Email: [email protected]

Professor Dejian Zhou

Email: [email protected]