We have an opportunity for a Research Assistant to contribute to a Leverhulme Trust funded project titled “Generalizing understanding of viral emergence using large-scale comparative data” working with Dr. Daniel Streicker and Dr Nardus Mollentze. The postholder will use cutting edge computational tools to mine public genomic data and the scientific literature and will use these newly assembled datasets to conduct meta-analyses on a variety of topics related to viral diversity and virulence across host taxa. The successful candidate will also contribute to the formulation and submission of research publications and research proposals.

This is a Grade 6 Postdoc (salary range £29,176 to £32,817, depending on experience), which would normally suit candidates near completion of their PhD or graduates with little postdoctoral experience.

The Streicker lab (www.streickerlab.com) forms part of the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine and the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, which together provide an excellent cross-cutting environment for quantitative, field and laboratory-based research on viruses. Both institutions hold Athena SWAN Silver departmental awards, demonstrating commitment to best practice in recruiting and supporting the career development and progression of female scientists, addressing gender inequalities in higher education. Our work focuses on understanding and preventing viral cross-species transmission. Research spans longitudinal field studies and experiments in wild bats in Peru, viral phylogenomics and metagenomics, and comparative studies using machine learning and meta-analysis. This position supports that final branch of in silico research.

Our recent articles on this topic include:

1. Streicker, D.G. and Gilbert, A.T. (2020) Contextualizing bats as viral reservoirs. Science https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd4559
2. Mollentze, N. & Streicker, D.G. (2020) Viral zoonotic risk is homogenous among taxonomic orders of mammalian and avian reservoir hosts. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1919176117
3. Mollentze, N., Streicker, D.G., Murcia, P.R., Hampson, K., Biek, R. (2020) Virulence mismatches in index hosts shape the outcomes of cross-species transmission. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2006778117
4. Babayan, S., Orton, R.J. & Streicker D.G. (2018) Predicting Reservoir Hosts and Arthropod Vectors from Evolutionary Signatures in RNA Virus Genomes. Science https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap9072