Opportunities

Independent postdoctoral research fellows

We are always interested in hearing from potential new lab members. Whilst we have no open postdoc positions currently, enquiries from competitive candidates for fellowships (EMBO/HFSP/Marie Curie etc) are strongly encouraged.

For informal enquiries please email Jason.King@Sheffield.ac.uk.

Projects for self-funded students

Understanding the role of DRAM in infection and autophagy-related disease

We are currently looking for a new student to understanding how the lysosomal protein DRAM contributes to bacterial killing and autophagy

This is a collaboration with Phil Elks at Sheffield (www.elkslab.weebly.com), and involves using both Dictyostelium and zebrafish.

The physics of phagocytosis

We are also looking for potential candidates to undertake an interdisciplinary, collaborative project with Andrew Parnell in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Sheffield.

To effectively prevent infections, phagocytic cells of the immune system need to efficiently engulf microbes of widely varying size, shape and biomechanical properties.

How phagocytic cup formation is spatially organized, and adapts to engulfing particles of different geometries and stiffness is however poorly understood. We will directly address this, providing insight into both fundamental mechanisms of phagocytosis and immune cell function.

Objectives:

1) Analyse the mechanisms and forces used for phagocytosis of particles with differing biophysical properties

2) Understand the role of surface ligands in facilitating engulfment

3) Identify the cytoskeletal regulators that enable phagocytosis of complex shapes and differing stiffness

If this sounds interesting to you, and you think you may be able to apply for your own funding, please get in touch.