A research opportunity in virology is available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in the Virus and Prion Research Unit at the National Animal Disease Center (NADC) located in Ames, Iowa. The NADC is a flagship ARS laboratory facility conducting animal health research. The ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.
Research Project
The participant will investigate dynamics of influenza A virus (IAV) at human and swine interfaces through antigenic and phenotypic characterization of swine IAV in support of a contract between USDA-ARS and the University of Pennsylvania Center for Excellence in Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR), which is part of the NIH NIAID CEIRR collaborative network. Specific goals are to quantify antigenic evolution of IAV from swine, define the global relatedness of IAV in swine and humans, investigate the pathogenesis and transmission of emerging IAV in the swine host and between host species, and identify key predictors of the pandemic risk of swine IAV. The opportunity is within the Intervention Strategies to Prevent and Respond to IAV Infections in Swine project in the Virus and Prion Research Unit of the NADC. Scientists in this unit maintain a comprehensive IAV research program including investigation of virulence mechanisms, vaccinology, immunology, and virus evolution. Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant will be engaged in execution of technical methods, experimentation and procedures, collecting and analyzing results, maintaining physical and electronic data, and reporting findings via written and oral communications. The participant will interact as a team member with the scientists and other laboratory staff in all phases of the research process.
Learning Objectives
The participant will collaborate with the mentor, scientists and other laboratory staff in all phases of the research process (conception, study design, execution, analysis, interpretation, and scientific communication). The participant will advance their knowledge in virology, animal models for infectious disease research, laboratory operations and techniques, virus evolution, and work in a team-oriented, multi-disciplinary influenza A virus research environment. The participant will have the opportunity to attend and present at local and/or national meetings and publish in peer reviewed journals upon acceptance of research results.
Mentor
The mentor for this opportunity is Dr. Amy Vincent (amy.vincent@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact Dr. Vincent.
Questions
Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email USDA-ARS@orau.org and include the reference code (USDA-ARS-2021-0246) for this opportunity.
Qualifications
- Citizenship: US Citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) and foreign nationals
- Degree: Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 months or anticipated to be received by 12/31/2021 (updated to 5/31/2022)
- Discipline(s):
- Animal Health and Food Safety
- Cellular and Molecular Biology
- Immunology
- Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology
- Public Health
- Veterinary Sciences
- Virology
To Apply
For more information and to apply, please visit: www.zintellect.com/Opportunity/Details/USDA-ARS-2021-0246. Application Deadline: December 17, 2021 at 3:00PM ET. As of January 13, the application due date has been extended to March 31, 2022.