A 29-month postdoctoral position in medical entomology is available in the Medical Entomology Unit, Institut Pasteur de la Guyane (IPG), Cayenne, French Guiana.

Context: Present in French Guiana since 1940, the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane, a non-profit private foundation of public utility, is part of the Institut Pasteur International Network. Its missions are structured around four components: research, public health, education and services. The main research topics are focused on tropical infectious diseases. IPG is implementing a programme, called STRonGer, funded by the CAPACITY specific programme FP7-REGPOT-2011-1 (Grant agreement REGPOT-CT-2011-285837), that aims at fostering its research potential on emerging and infectious diseases. This programme is multidisciplinary and involves local and European research teams working on virology, parasitology, entomology, ecology, clinical research, epidemiology and phytochemistry.

The host laboratory: The Medical Entomology Unit contributes to scientific research, public health support and education led by IPG. The Unit consists of two researchers, a team of three technicians and welcomes regularly students.

The research programs are interested in mosquitoes responsible for the transmission of malaria, dengue and other arboviroses as well as in sandflies responsible for the transmission of leishmaniasis in French Guiana. The main scientific studies concern i) Systematical, biological, ecological and behavioral characterization of these insects in relation with their vectorial capacity in various natural or anthropological environments in French Guiana and ii) the identification of phenomena of insecticide resistance and of their determining factors in connection with the vector control operations led on French Guiana. For information about projects and recent publications, please visit: http://www.pasteur-cayenne.fr/stronger and http://www.pasteur-cayenne.fr.

Within the framework of the STRonGer project, the objective of the host laboratory is the intensification of its potential of research in medical entomology through the opening of post-doctoral positions, the acquisition of new equipments and the realization of a technical platform including a level 3 biosafety laboratory, laboratories dedicated to insecticides experimentations, molecular biology manipulations and taxonomy studies and new insectariums.

Job position: Dengue is a major public health problem in French Guiana and in the Amazonian / Caribbean regions. The candidate will implement, under the supervision of the Unit leader or/and his assistant, research work on vectorial competence of Aedes aegypti for dengue viruses, its determining factors and relationships with vector biology, ecology or susceptibility to insecticides. Artificial infections will be performed on different populations of Aedes aegypti for various dengue virus strains circulating in the Amazonian / Caribbean regions. They would also be interested in vector competence of other mosquito species for dengue viruses or otherarboviruses.

The research work will initially be performed in association with the team of the Laboratory of virology of the IPG and the Laboratory “Arboviruses and Insect Vectors”, Institute Pasteur, Paris.

The candidate should hold a PhD degree and possess expertise in medical entomology and arbovirology. She/He will perform experimental infections in level-3 biosafety laboratory.

Application: Please respond by e-mail (using the ref: ENTOMO 01) to Angélina Azanza (aazanza@pasteur-cayenne.fr) with a statement of interest and career objectives, CV, and names with contact information for three references.

Application deadline: Open until filled.