Post-doctoral research position in HIV pathogenesis

Post-doctoral research position in HIV pathogenesis

A post-doctoral position is available in Laboratory of Immunogenetics, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, to study cellular mechanism of HIV infection-induced host cell signaling for potential development of antiviral therapies. In particular, the lab is interested in targeting potential host genes and pathways to facilitate HIV-induced viral release. The lab recently identified L-selectin (CD62L) as a viral adhesion receptor on CD4⁺ T cells. The binding of viral envelope glycans to CD62L facilitates HIV entry and infection, and L-selectin expression on central memory CD4⁺ T cells supports their preferential infection by HIV. Upon infection, the virus downregulates L-selectin expression through shedding, resulting in an apparent loss of central memory CD4⁺ T cells.  Furthermore, inhibition of L-selectin shedding markedly reduces HIV-1 infection and suppresses viral release, implementing L-selectin shedding for HIV-1 release (Kononchik et al. HIV-1 Targets L-selectin for adhesion and induces its shedding for viral release. Nat Commun July 19;9(1):2825, 2018).  For more information, please refer to https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/peter-sun-phd.

Qualified candidates should have a Ph.D. degree obtained within the past 5 years in related research fields. Interested candidates should send a letter of application and C.V. to Dr. Peter Sun, psun@niaid.nih.gov.

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