POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE OPPORTUNITY

HAYNES AND SAUNDERS LAB

The Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) provides national and international leadership in the fight against major infectious diseases. We are a large interdisciplinary organization with a goal to develop vaccines and therapeutics for HIV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and other emerging infections. DHVI is seeking a Postdoctoral Associate to join our team in developing vaccines for HIV and beta-coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2. 

The Duke Human Vaccine Institute is an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental institute dedicated to the study of host-pathogen interactions that can be translated into biologics and vaccines. DHVI is composed of a team of highly interactive investigators that have expertise in mucosal and systemic immunology, virology, molecular and structural biology, computational biology, and animal medicine. With these expertises, the DHVI is working collaboratively to develop vaccines and countermeasures against pathogens like HIV, SARS-CoV-2, and influenza.

Postdoctoral Associate Role

We are seeking a highly motivated recent graduate to join our team involved in the assessment of Vaccine Induced HIV-1 Env Antibody Responses.Broadly neutralizing antibodies can protect against HIV-1 infection in animal models. The laboratory investigates the antibody response to broadly neutralizing epitopes on HIV-1 Envelope protein in the context of Envelope vaccination. Many of the broadly neutralizing epitopes involve N-linked glycosylation, which is a central focus of the laboratory’s research. We utilize molecular insights of how neutralizing antibodies interact with HIV-1 Env to design focused immunogens. The generation of Envs that interact with broadly neutralizing antibodies and their precursors will be a central responsibility of the Postdoctoral Associate. Moreover, the Postdoctoral Associate will perform the isolation and characterization of HIV-1 antibodies from vaccinated nonhuman primates and will work independently to perform immunoassays, fluorescence-activated single B cell sorting, and antibody cloning. More specifically, the Postdoctoral Associate will characterize the binding and neutralization phenotypes of the monoclonal antibodies identified by cell sorting and next generation sequencing. The Postdoctoral Associate will also investigate the ontogeny of vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies.

Unique Opportunity

The Postdoctoral Associate will work under the guidance of two world-renowned Principal investigators, Dr. Barton Haynes and Dr. Kevin Saunders. The candidate will be responsible for designing and executing experiments, interpreting the data, and presenting the results at internal and external meetings and in scientific publications.

The Postdoctoral Associate will perform some or all of the following activities:

·       Fluorescence-activated cell sorting of single B cells from vaccinated macaques

·       PCR amplification of antibody genes

·       Expression of recombinant HIV-1 antibodies and immunogens by transient transfection

·       Directed evolution of HIV immunogens including cell culture and flow cytometry

·       Illumina MiSeq next generation sequencing of antibody genes

·       Single cell and bulk RNA-seq of immune cells

·       Antibody sequence analysis

·       Design, expression, and purification of trimeric HIV-1 envelopes for use in immunoassays.

·       Immunoassays to include luminex, ELISA, western blots, and biolayer interferometry

·       Present scientific results at meetings (internal and external) and publish results in peer-reviewed journals

·       Training for bioethics, laboratory management, and scientific writing

• Maintain accurate laboratory documentation of experiments, including raw experimental data and laboratory notebooks