Research Fellow - Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy Grade 7

Position Details

Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy, School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health

Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy, School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health

University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822

Grade: 7

Full Time, Fixed Term contract up to August 2028

Closing date: 21st September 2026

To create and contribute to the creation of knowledge by undertaking a specified range of activities within an established research programme and/or specific research project.

• Work within specified research grants and projects and contribute to writing bids
• Operate within area of specialism
• Analyse and interpret research findings and results
• Contribute to generating funding
• Contribute to licensing or spin out deals with demonstrated commercial success (such as revenues, asset or company sales, IP generated) and/or public understanding of the discipline or similar. The Research Fellow will deliver the experimental programme investigating how immune-mediated inflammation and bile-acid exposure cause mitochondrial dysfunction and fatigue in Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC). The postholder will lead mitochondrial functional studies in primary human liver cells, working closely with specialists in liver immunology, regulatory T cells, imaging and bioinformatics'.

The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.

• Plan, execute and troubleshoot experiments using primary human biliary epithelial cells, liver-derived myeloid cells, and relevant T-cell co-cultures.
• Model the PBC liver microenvironment using bile acids, inflammatory cytokines and patient-derived liver-conditioned media.
• Lead mitochondrial phenotyping, including Seahorse extracellular-flux analysis.
• Use flow cytometry and cell sorting to isolate and phenotype human epithelial and immune-cell populations.
• Conduct confocal imaging of mitochondrial morphology.
• Design, coordinate and interpret bulk RNA-sequencing experiments with the project bioinformatician.
• ' Analyse, interpret and integrate experimental data from cellular, imaging and transcriptomic studies to support project objectives and research outputs'
• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews *
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters *
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research *
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines*
• Fosters a fair and equitable workplace for all staff
• Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures
• Other relevant criteria from our equality and diversity duties document.

• A PhD relevant to the research area (or near completion), or equivalent PhD level qualifications.
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary, multi-site research team.
• Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
• Strong hands-on experience with cultured mammalian cells; experience with primary human cells is highly desirable.
• Demonstrable expertise in mitochondrial functional assays, particularly Seahorse…