AHRI Faculty member Prof Ravi Gupta is looking for a highly motivated and exceptional laboratory scientist to join his research programme at Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

The Gupta Group at AHRI aims to address the global emerging threat of drug resistant HIV-1. Their clinical/epidemiological studies have impacted health policy by alerting governments and international agencies to rising levels of HIV drug resistance globally. The group does in vitro drug resistance work, aiming to optimise use of particular protease inhibitors and integrase inhibitors.

The Gupta Group also has an active basic lab science programme, working on the cellular biology of retroviruses. This work complements the drug resistance work by expanding our knowledge of how viruses manipulate the host environment in order to persist. This will inevitably impact response to drugs and the search for ways to eliminate viral reservoirs. In particular the group is focussed on macrophage biology, relating to cell cycle regulation that can drive these cells to become susceptible to HIV infection. Infection of macrophages in the brain can lead to viral replication even during treatment, and we are looking for ways in which brain macrophages can be protected.

The Gupta Group is looking for someone with a background in molecular virology of HIV, preferably with experience in HIV drug resistance. Knowledge of next generation sequencing for HIV as well as use of informatics software for analysis would be desirable.

The minimum qualifications and experience required for this post are:

  • PhD in Virology
  • Several high-quality publications
  • Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team

To apply, please email your CV, a short cover letter and a research statement describing your research interests to ravindra.gupta@ucl.ac.uk before 9 November, 2018.