PhD student Defining the human infectious reservoir for malaria in Africa. Radboudumc, Netherlands

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Source: https://www.radboudumc.nl/werkenbij/Pages/Vacatures.aspx?vacid=36541&naa...

PhD student 'Defining the human infectious reservoir for malaria in Africa'

  • Department of Medical Microbiology
  • Temporary
  • 4 years
  • 36 hours per week
  • Scale 10A: max € 39719 gross per year at full employment (incl. vacation bonus and end of year payments)
  • Published 09-05-2016
  • Closingdate 13-06-2016

Job description

Malaria continues to be the most important parasitic disease with more than 500,000 deaths annually. One of the major challenges in malaria control is the efficient spread of malaria from humans to mosquitoes. Malaria transmission depends on the presence of gametocytes in the peripheral blood but determinants of gametocyte production and infectivity are poorly understood. The aim of this PhD project is to characterize gametocyte production and infectivity in cohorts of naturally exposed individuals in Burkina Faso or Uganda.
 
As part of the PhD project, existing molecular tools will be optimised to quantify gametocyte commitment, maturation and clonal complexity. These assays will be used in concert with mosquito feeding assays in the field and the lab to understand malaria transmissibility. Performing and optimizing mosquito feeding assays are primary tasks of the PhD candidate and will be used to directly quantify the likelihood that malaria-infected individuals transmit their infection to mosquitoes. For this project, which is at the cutting edge of malaria research, we are looking for an ambitious, talented PhD student with an interest in the biology of malaria and enjoying the prospect of working in an international environment.

The project will have an extensive field component and the candidate should be willing to spend several months per year in Burkina Faso or Uganda. Affinity and experience with entomology, epidemiology and or molecular biology are desired (but not essential) qualities of the envisaged PhD candidate.
 
 

Profile

  • A masters degree in Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Entomology or Molecular Life Sciences
  • Willingness to spend up to 6 months per year in an African field site
  • Commitment to collaboration with an international team of researchers
  • An independent and well-structured working style, demanding high quality of your own work
  • Scientific interest in infectious diseases, epidemiology and biology
  • Well-developed social skills directed to work in an interdisciplinary and international team, excellent interpersonal and communicative skills
  • Strong motivation and ambition to succeed in scientific research
  • Excellent presentation and scientific writing skills