Postdoc position available in the Tate lab at Vanderbilt University

The Postdoctoral Scholar will take an interdisciplinary approach to study the constraints and trade- offs that shape the evolution of immune signaling networks using a combination of transcriptomic analyses, evolutionary genomics, and/or computational modeling. The postdoc will work directly with the PI to build models, design analytical pipelines, and analyze the results. The postdoc should be comfortable with conducting research with a high degree of independence, learning new methods, writing manuscripts, and presenting their work at conferences. The postdoc should also be willing to co-mentor undergraduate and graduate students. The postdoc will have flexibility to develop independent lines of research during their appointment. The position is available as early as summer 2019, and the start date is negotiable.

Please send a CV and a cover letter (1-2 pages) describing research interests and experience, future career goals, and reason for interest in this particular position. Please include the contact information for three academic references at the end of the cover letter. Using the email header “Postdoc position interest,” please send these materials to a.tate@vanderbilt.edu.

Postdoctoral position in Maria Diuk-Wasser’s lab modeling mosquito and tick-borne disease surveillance and control

A postdoctoral position is available in Maria Diuk-Wasser’s lab @ the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology (E3B), Columbia University, in collaboration with Ángel G. Muñoz at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI). The applicant will join research projects newly funded by the Department of Defense, NOAA and the CDC, and will become part of the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-borne diseases, a collaborative network including faculty from Cornell, Columbia, Fordham and SUNY Universities, the NY State Department of Health and the Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic
Diseases in CT. The postdoctoral fellow will harness an extensive network of existing and newly acquired surveillance and control datasets to develop diagnostic and predictive models for the presence and abundance of mosquito and tick vectors and their associated pathogens. Areas of emphasis include modeling for optimal deployment of integrated tick management approaches, modeling the population dynamics and spread of mosquito and tick-borne pathogens, multimodel ensemble modeling for Aedes-borne diseases and helping develop a human mobility monitoring system for the US and the Caribbean region. The modeling platforms developed will enhance surveillance and institutional response capacity for real-time impact on vector-borne disease management.

Applicants should have a PhD in ecology, epidemiology, applied mathematics, statistics, climate sciences or a related quantitative field. Background in mathematical modeling of infectious diseases, theoretical ecology, spatial and dynamic modeling or mathematical biology is highly desirable, in addition to having strong programming, statistical and quantitative skills. A track record of research excellence is essential, as are excellent written and oral communication skills. The position is available immediately. For full consideration, submit application by June 30th, review of applications will be on-going until the position is filled. Applications should submit their CV, statement of research interests and the names of three references to: Maria Diuk-Wasser – mad2256@columbia.edu

Postdoc at UNC Chapel Hill in parasite species interactions across scales

The Mitchell Lab at UNC Chapel Hill seeks a postdoctoral researcher to work on a project funded by the NSF-NIH-USDA joint program in the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases.

The postdoc will conduct and analyze field-based research on parasite coinfections, including priority effects and cross-scale interactions.  The project leverages an experimentally tractable system, with the opportunity to collaborate on an established long-term experiment as well as to conduct additional short-term experiments.  The postdoc will also have the opportunity to collaborate with other research groups on parasite population genetics, host microbiome analysis, and mathematical modeling.

To apply, please email Charles Mitchell (mitchell@bio.unc.edu) a CV and brief cover letter including your potential start date.  Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled. 

Huijben Lab at Arizona State University seeking postdoc

I am looking for an amazing person to work on the evolution of resistance (either mosquito or parasite or beyond), but (additionally) it would also be great to have an immunology-versed person who is interested in working on the interaction of the immune system and parasite evolution (which we hope to do in vitro). I will have money available for a post-doc, but in addition there is this great opportunity: https://evmed.asu.edu/news/open-position-evolution-medicine-postdoctoral-research-scholar. Information on our research.

Postdoc in Lloyd-Smith lab at UCLA

We seek a postdoctoral researcher to develop mathematical and statistical models of viral processes, linking data across scales to understand the determinants of zoonotic emergence risk.  This position is linked to an exciting DARPA-funded project that brings together a world-class team of researchers across disciplines from virology to ecology to epidemiology, to study emergence risks from bat-borne viruses including Nipah and Hendra virus.  The primary focus of this position is to design quantitative methods to integrate virological data collected in the lab and in the field, at scales from molecules to animals, with the goal of developing biological insight and practical predictors of the evolutionary and epidemiological risk posed by potential zoonotic viruses.  The position offers the rare opportunity to interact closely with top empirical researchers in virology and allied fields, and to participate in designing on-going data collection to support future rounds of modeling.  There will also be rich opportunities to collaborate with other groups on modeling zoonotic spillover, transmission dynamics and viral evolutionary dynamics.

To inquire, please contact Jamie Lloyd-Smith jlloydsmith@ucla.edu with your CV, a brief statement of interest in the project and relevant experience, and your potential start date.  Review of applications is on-going until the position is filled.  

Postdoc in Eelgrass Disease Ecology

The Harvell and Gomes Labs at Cornell University are recruiting an outstanding, highly quantitative postdoctoral fellow to conduct and analyze field-based research on Seagrass Wasting Disease through the NSF funded project Collaborative Research: The Role of a Keystone Pathogen in the Geographic and Local-scale Ecology of Eelgrass Decline in the Eastern Pacific with CO-PIs E. Duffy, C. Gomes, D. Harvell, T. Hawthorne, and J. Stachowicz. The candidate will integrate field and artificial intelligence application (to quantify disease lesions) data from 6 latitudinally distributed sites from San Diego to Alaska with local temperature logger data and satellite remotely sensed data. Some experience with structural equation modelling would be helpful. The position includes the expectation to draft and submit multiple manuscripts for publication in top-level peer-reviewed scientific journals; present results at professional meetings, conferences, and popular seminars; engage in ongoing academic and intellectual life within relevant scientific programs at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Cornell Institute for Computational Sustainability, the Smithsonian Institution and Friday Harbor Labs. Start Date: April or May 2019; 2 years of funding with potential to raise more. Candidates should submit a short cover letter, CV, contact information and information for 3 references, research statement summarizing doctoral or postdoctoral research, and a statement of contribution to diversity, equity and inclusion via the website: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/12773

Postdoc opportunity at Institute for Disease Modeling

Ben Althouse, PhD, ScM, is actively looking for a postdoc to join the epidemiology team at IDM. There are several projects available to work on with a theme of joint behavior/transmission modeling. The job description is here:
If you know of someone looking for a postdoc, please encourage them to apply! Any questions can be sent to
balthouse@idmod.or

Symposium on Population Biology of Vector-borne Diseases at the Odum School of Ecology February 24, 2018.

Registration Open & Travel Scholarship Available
The Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia is pleased to announce that a scholarship has been established to support student travel to our symposium, Population Biology of Vector-borne Diseases, which will be held at the Odum School of Ecology on February 24, 2018.  This event is a great opportunity for faculty and students to hear from leaders in the fields of biology, ecology, veterinary medicine, entomology, epidemiology, biostatistics, and geography, whose work focuses on the rapidly growing field of vector-borne diseases.
For more information on our speakers, topics, and scholarship, visit our website

The Reece lab at the University of Edinburgh is recruiting a postdoc

The Reece lab in the Institutes of Evolution, Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, is recruiting a postdoc.

Topic: Parasite offence or host defence? The ecology and evolution of biological rhythms in malaria infection

Details and application information: https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=042288

Biological rhythms allow activities to be coordinated with the consequences of the Earth’s daily and seasonal rotation. The mechanisms underpinning the clocks that drive daily rhythms are well understood. In contrast, the costs and benefits provided by daily rhythms – including how rhythms shape interactions between organisms – are poorly understood. One of the most fundamental interactions between organisms is that between hosts and parasites. Why parasites – that exclusively live within the bodies of other organisms – exhibit biological rhythms and how they are regulated are longstanding questions. Examining the roles of rhythms in disease is a new arena for studying host-parasite-vector coevolution. Also, integrating disease control interventions into an evolutionary chronobiology framework offers innovative approaches to improving health. This includes the development of drugs to disrupt parasite rhythms, harnessing circadian systems to enhance immune responses, or precisely timing drug administration to make treatment more effective.

We are offering a postdoctoral position as part of a Wellcome Trust funded project to investigate the role of circadian rhythms in malaria infection. The project will integrate a novel mix of disciplines (evolutionary ecology, chronobiology, and parasitology) to determine why and how timing matters for interactions between parasites, hosts and vectors, the severity and transmission of disease, and fitness of all parties. This is a very broad topic and so the successful candidate will be encouraged to develop their own niche. Growing evidence that the daily rhythms of malaria parasites can confer tolerance to antimalarial drugs, and that the use of bed nets is changing the biting time of the mosquitoes that transmit malaria makes understanding how and why parasites exhibit daily rhythms increasingly urgent.

This interdisciplinary Wellcome Trust funded project will break new ground by elucidating the evolutionary ecology of biological rhythms for parasites. It will integrate a novel mix of disciplines (evolutionary ecology, chronobiology, and parasitology) and open up novel avenues for disease control. The post holder will plan, conduct and write up research that they have led and support the research of others in the lab. The project will focus on a rodent malaria, murine host, and mosquito vector model system.

This post is full time and fixed term for 3 years.

Salary: £32,548 – £38,833 per annum

Closing Date: Friday 02 February 2018 at 5pm (GMT)

Please get in touch if you are interested and have questions: Sarah.Reece@ed.ac.uk