ILRI MSc Graduate Fellowship – African swine fever virus binding proteins identification using a pig macrophages membrane protein library.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit an MSc graduate fellow to undertake research on African swine fever virus binding proteins identification using a pig macrophages membrane protein library.  The fellow will be hosted by the Health program at ILRI.

ILRI works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 15 CGIAR Research Centres dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa. www.ilri.org

The Health program seeks to effectively manage or eliminate livestock, zoonotic and food-borne diseases that matter to the poor through the generation and use of knowledge, technologies and products, leading to higher farmer incomes and better health and nutrition for consumers and livestock. https://www.ilri.org/research/programs/animal-and-human-health .

About the position

The African swine fever (ASF) pandemic, a hemorrhagic pig disease with mortality rates of up to 100%, is currently spread in four continents: Asia, Africa, Europe and America. Even with the application of biosecurity and movement control measures, the disease is advancing to new regions every day. ASF is not only affecting the big international pig producers with astronomic economic losses but also hampering the possibility of countries like Uganda to build a strong pig industry and the smallholder farmers in LMICs, with mostly backyard production systems, to make a living out of it, with women and the youth being the most affected.

Developing a safe and robust vaccine will provide an effective control measure for this devastating disease. Although it is long known that ASF virus (ASFV), the causative agent of ASF, targets pig monocytes/macrophages, the receptors involved in virus binding are yet to be fully characterized, and the viral proteins involved in attachment and internalization have only been partially identified; this knowledge gap prevents a rational vaccine design.

Currently, the research community is focused on developing live attenuated recombinant vaccines that, even effective, pose biosecurity concerns. Subunit vaccines, based on non-infective parts of the virus, are a much safer alternative. However, there are no consistent published results on efficacy, even when using the same antigens, ranging from partial protection to no-protection or even disease enhancement. 

This project will identify new ASFV binding proteins and their host cell receptors using arrayed heterologous expression of membrane proteins from ASFV permissible pig

monocyte/macrophages in refractory human fibroblasts.  The cells will be exposed to ASFV to identify membrane proteins that allow ASFV to attach and invade the refractory human fibroblasts. The identified proteins will be considered as potential antigens for a future subunit vaccine.

Key responsibilities:

The MSc fellow to be recruited will be responsible for:

• Maintaining cells in culture adhering to sterility and general tissue culture lab practices.
• Transduction of mammalian cells with exogenous ORFs from swine.
• Binding assays using African swine fever virus on refractory human cells.
• Following good laboratory practices including maintaining the correct order and workflow in the ILRI labs.
• Maintaining the inventory of samples in the correct order in excel and LIMs software.
• Performing general laboratory procedures, including preparation of chemicals/reagents/media according to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and work instructions.
• Developing of SOPs and improvement of existing SOPs, including independent literature research as required.
• Developing an MSc research proposal in line with the admission requirements of the university.
• Analyzing the results obtained, prepare a thesis and at least one journal publication.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate should:

• Have registered in a recognized university and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Immunology, public health, biological sciences, microbiology or a related field.
• Have completed coursework and is ready to begin the research component of their study.
• Demonstrate excellent skills on MS Office applications (especially Word and Excel) and other data analysis software, e.g. R environment, GraphPad Prism, FlowJo.
• Experience in laboratory methods – cell culture, virology, binding assays, immunology (ELISA, immunoblots), and molecular biology (qPCR, cloning, transfection, transduction), FACS analysis and microscopy.
• Demonstrate good understanding of scientific principles and lab work.  
• Demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Willingness to travel for training.

Location: ILRI Nairobi, Kenya.

Duration: 6 Months

Terms of appointment and benefits: ILRI will offer a monthly stipend to cover living expenses in the project location, medical insurance, and cover research expenses. The fellow will be co-supervised by academic and ILRI supervisor and receive various capacity development opportunities at ILRI.

How to apply:

All applications MUST include the following (applications not containing these documents will not be considered):

• a cover letter addressed to the Senior Manager – Capacity Development ILRI, expressing interest in the fellowship position and the motivation. The position title and reference number (REF: ILRI MSc GF/Health/01/2025) should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.
• CV, including names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience.
• academic qualification certificates/transcripts.

Applications must be submitted by clicking on the “APPLY NOW” tab on or before 31st January 2025.

Due to the volume of applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

ILRI does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training). ILRI also does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts.

To find out more about ILRI visit http://www.ilri.org