USDA-ARS Fellowship on Recombinant Vaccines for Pathogenic Clostridium Perfringens Strains

*Applications may be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

ARS Office/Lab and Location: A research opportunity is currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), within the Animal Biosciences and Biotechnology Laboratory located in Beltsville, Maryland.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

The Poultry Disease Research Unit's mission in The Animal Bioscience and Biotechnology Lab is to develop avian immunoreagent,  develop alternatives to antibiotics, including the vaccine development for Eimeria spp and Clostridium perfringens, and decipher the pathogenesis of related coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis, in order to reduce their impact on poultry and human health. The laboratory consists of two PIs, support scientists, technicians, interns, and postdoctoral trainees collaborating in a dynamic team setting. The PIs have diverse interests focused on poultry production and each PI has independent and team projects all striving to improve animal health and food safety.

Research Project: With the voluntary reduction or withdrawal of antibiotic growth promoters from the feed, Clostridium perfringens-caused necrotic enteritic in broiler chickens becomes increasingly important enteric disease in the poultry industry. Vaccines to reduce this disease occurrence in U.S. poultry are urgently needed. The selected postdoctoral or research fellow will participate in the development of recombinantly Bacillus subtilis-vectored vaccines and mRNA vaccines. These vaccines allow targeting of multiple specific virulence factors presented in spores. Under the guidance of a mentor, the fellow will also assist in vaccine testing of animal studies, antibody and cytokines determinations, and metagenomic and metatranscriptomics studies in chickens. Additional research opportunities include immunoreagent development and training in computational biology.  

Learning Objectives: This project provides training in cutting edge recombinant Bacillus subtilis and mRNA vaccine technology, and assay development.

Mentor: The mentor for this opportunity is Charles Li (charles.li@usda.gov). Dr. Li will focus on vaccine development, testing and assay development. If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: As soon as a qualified candidate is identified.  The start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will be for one year.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full-time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), and foreign nationals. Non-U.S. citizen applicants should refer to the Guidelines for Non-U.S. Citizens Details page of the program website for information about the valid immigration statuses that are acceptable for program participation.

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email ORISE.ARS.Northeast@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate must have received a master's or doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields.

Preferred skills:

• Experience in basic bacteriology, immunology, and molecular biology, including isolation and cultivation of bacteria, PCR assay development, recombinant DNA and bacterial methodology, protein expression, mRNA expression, cell culture, in-vitro and in-vivo immune assays, ELISA, and basic laboratory skills.
• Fluent technical writing in English for peer-reviewed publications.
• Comfortability with animal research, specifically with poultry.
• Ability to advance project goals and participate in the preparation of presentations and publications.
• BSL-2 experience, particularly experience with Clostridium, Bacillus or similar bacterial pathogens.
• Animal handling skills, such as inoculation, challenge studies, blood draws, and necropsy.
• Bioinformatics skills in genome analysis is preferred.

Eligibility Requirements

• Degree: Master's Degree or Doctoral Degree.