Research Associate

The purpose of the post is to recruit a passionate, self-motivated and dynamic postdoctoral research associate with expertise in in vitro and in vivo models to study regulatory T cell biology to join Dr. Dominguez-Villar’s laboratory at Imperial College London, funded by the BBSRC. The research programme led by Dr. Dominguez-Villar focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that maintain human regulatory T cell identity and plasticity and the regulation of CD4+ T cell responses in autoimmune and infectious disease settings.

We have recently defined the TNF signalling pathway as an important regulator of human Treg plasticity in healthy individuals and in people with autoimmunity (please see key references below). The successful candidate will examine the role of TNF signalling pathways in maintaining Treg identity and modulating plasticity, and the role of environmental factors in activating/inhibiting these pathways, with application to autoimmune diseases. This is a highly translational research project that will involve human samples from healthy individuals and people living with multiple sclerosis, and in vivo mouse models of autoimmunity. The post holder will have a strong background in Treg biology and considerable experience in in vivo models of cel migration, Treg suppression and EAE. High parameter flow cytometry and advanced flow data analysis, culture of primary T cells and Tregs, as well as molecular biology techniques (CRISPR/Cas9 editing tools, gene expression, ChIP, etc.) are essential skills for applicants to be considered. Bioinformatics skills (RNA-seq, ChIP-seq analyses) are desired.

• You will be responsible for designing, performing and analysing experiments, and share findings with colleagues.


• You will help supervise students as needed.


• You will be responsible for identifying and optimizing new techniques for the collection and analysis of data.


• You will write reports for submission to funding agencies, and manuscripts for submission to peer-review journals.

• Research Associate: Hold a PhD (or equivalent) in Molecular or Cellular Immunology, or a closely related discipline


• Research Assistant: Near completion of a PhD (or equivalent) in Molecular or Cellular Immunology, or a closely related discipline


• Expertise In regulatory T cell immunology (mouse and/or human).


• In vivo models: EAE, cell migration, in vivo suppression, in vivo Treg survival and proliferation.


• Essential techniques: high parameter flow cytometry experimental setup and analysis, molecular biology techniques (ChIP, ChIP-seq, RNA isolation, gene expression analysis, plasmid isolation, bacterial transformation)


• Gene silencing and activation on primary Tregs and T cells (shRNA and/or CRISPR/Cas9 editing tools).


• Statistical analysis of data.

**Please note this is a re-advertisement; previous applicants need not apply**

This is a Full Time and Fixed Term contract for 2 years based at the St. Mary's Campus, London.

Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as a Research Assistant within the salary range £36,694 - £39,888 per annum.**

Support will be provided to prepare applications to postdoctoral or career transition fellowships if desired.

Should you require any further details on the role please contact Dr. Margarita Dominguez-Villar at [email protected] .

The College is a proud signatory to the San-Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA),which means that in hiring and promotion decisions, we evaluate applicants on the quality of their work, not the journal impact factor where it is published. For more information, see: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-evaluation/

The College believes that the use of animals in research is vital to improve human and animal health and welfare. Animals may only be used in research programmes where their use is shown to be necessary for developing new treatments and making medical advances. Imperial is committed to ensuring that, in cases where this research is deemed essential, all animals in the College’s care are treated with full respect, and that all staff involved with this work show due consideration at every level. http://www.imperial.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/about-imperial-research/research-integrity/animal-research /