Postdoctoral Associate - Martins Lab. Palm LilyLifestyle

Postdoctoral Associate

The Martins lab at The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology is looking for a Postdoctoral Associate. Our research program is focused on developing a "one-shot" functional cure for HIV/AIDS. To that end, we are leveraging the latest advances in gene therapy to engineer long-lived host cells to continuously produce HIV-1 IgG therapeutics in vivo at levels sufficient to prevent viral replication in the absence of antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Using nonhuman primates as a preclinical model of HIV/AIDS, we have shown that a single dose of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors at birth can result in stable expression of a HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) in plasma for years without redosing. The systemic HIV-1 immunity achieved by this strategy could block acquisition of simian-HIV infection (SHIV) in mucosal challenge models that mimic HIV transmission through breastfeeding and sexual intercourse.

Additionally, ongoing studies in our group show that AAV-vectored delivery of HIV-1 IgG biologics can also prevent virus rebound in SHIV-infected infant and adult rhesus macaques following ART interruption. Despite the promise of these results, AAV-expressed bNAbs often induce host immune responses that restrict bNAb expression and lead to treatment failure. Although these anti-drug antibody (ADA) responses are rarely observed in newborn macaques, a large fraction of AAV/bNAb-treated adult monkeys (and humans too!)

develop immune responses that interfere with the half-life or biological activity of the delivered molecules. Thus, a main focus of our lab is to understand why gene therapy with AAV/bNAb vectors induces ADAs in some animals, but not in others, in hopes of devising strategies for suppressing these unwanted host immune responses.

• Project Management (meetings, bookkeeping, purchasing of reagents and supplies, etc.)
• Grant/Manuscript writing
• Cloning, cell culture, ELISAs, protein expression and purification, and data analysis and interpretation

Commensurate with experience.

• Ph.D. in immunology, virology, or a related discipline.
• Evidence of productivity from publications in high-quality journals originating from Ph.D. or postdoctoral work. Manuscripts that are finally accepted for publication in high-quality journals will also be considered as evidence of productivity.
• Significant expertise in the design and production of gene therapy vectors.
• Verbal and written communication skills in English with good organizational and analytical abilities.
• Strong managerial and organizational skills.

• Immunological techniques, including flow cytometry, ELISA, immunofluorescence, RNA/DNA scope.
• Molecular biology assays, like qPCR and advanced cloning.
• Preclinical models of HIV/AIDS.
• Next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics.