Research Fellow in Viral Immune Evasion

Post Status: Fixed-term Contract – Full-time. 

Research Group / Department / School: Translational Inflammation Research Group (TIRG, Brady Group), School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin. 

Location: Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin 8, Dublin, Ireland. 

Reports to: Dr Gareth Brady 

Salary: Appointment will be made at Point 2A on the SFI salary scale line with Government Pay Policy [€46,305 per annum gross salary].

Hours of Work: 39 hours per week

Post Summary 

The Brady Translational Inflammation Research Group (TIRG) is located within TTMI and has collaborative associations with local clinical researchers providing a strong translational base to our research as well as national and international experts in the areas of viral immune evasion, structural biology and the molecular basis of interferonopathies. Our key focus is on understanding how human-adapted viruses inhibit host innate anti-viral signaling systems using the poxvirus Molluscum Contagiosum Virus (MCV) as a model. It causes a common, long-duration infection with minimal inflammation around characteristic papular skin lesions despite being continually loaded with live virus. This suggests highly effective, targeted inhibition of human anti-viral responses. We believe that understanding how MCV achieves this level of innate immune inhibition may offer key insights into human innate signaling pathways and potential therapeutic tools to inhibit these pathways in diseases defined by inflammation. Our previous screening of the MCV genome identified and reported several novel inhibitors of primary sensing and inflammation whose mechanisms of inhibition. The current project ‘Screening Interferon Inhibition by a Human-Adapted Poxvirus and its Therapeutic Potential’ (IFNAPT) will now investigate inhibition of the Type-I Interferon system by MCV proteins and deriving potentially therapeutic compounds from these inhibitors for use in the treatment of diseases associated with dysregulation of the Interferon system (e.g. interferonopathies).

Person Specification 

Qualifications 

PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology or related discipline