King’s College London (King’s) is a world-leading Russell Group research institution. The work will be undertaken in the Centre for Host Microbiome Interactions, which is an integral component of the King’s Faculty of Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Sciences. All Centre Principal Investigators are recognised world leaders in host-pathogen interactions, microbial pathogenesis, mucosal disease, immunology, and oral cancer. The Centre possesses core facilities designed for molecular, cellular, immunological, microbiological and animal research, and extensive scientific expertise in complementary research programmes.

Candida albicans is usually a commensalism organism of mucosal surfaces but under suitably predisposing conditions can cause severe morbidity and life-threatening infections. C. albicans possesses several virulence factors that promote disease including the ability to form hyphae and secrete the toxin candidalysin. However, the regulatory factors that control the yeast-hypha transition and direct pathogenic and commensal mechanisms are unclear. A Research Associate will employ molecular, protein, cellular, immunological and ‘omic’ technologies to investigate the yeast-hypha transition, candidalysin gene (ECE1) regulation, and the host response against pathogenic and commensal strains of C. albicans in vivo. They will be funded by the BBSRC and based in the laboratories of Professor Julian Naglik and Dr Jonathan Richardson at King’s College London, where they will produce independent, original research within the group. 

 

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 29 June 2028 or 3 years from start date