Postdoctoral Research Associate in Structural Biology

<div> <h2>Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Microbiology</h2> <p>Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, South Parks Road, Oxford</p> <p>We are seeking an ambitious Postdoctoral Research Assistant to join the laboratory of Dr Georgia Isom at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, to uncover the molecular machinery that transports sphingolipids to the surface of Gram-negative bacteria. This exciting project combines cryo-electron microscopy, native mass spectrometry, proteomics, and bacterial cell biology to answer a fundamental question in bacterial membrane biology.</p> <p>For decades, sphingolipids were thought to be almost exclusively eukaryotic membrane components, with only a handful of unusual bacteria capable of producing them. Our recent discoveries have overturned this view, revealing that sphingolipid biosynthesis is widespread across diverse bacteria. Emerging evidence suggests sphingolipids are key determinants of membrane homeostasis, environmental adaptation, antimicrobial resistance and host-pathogen interactions. Yet one of the biggest questions in the field remains unanswered: how are sphingolipids transported across the bacterial cell envelope to reach the cell surface?</p> <p>As the successful candidate, you will drive this project by combining structural and mechanistic approaches to identify and characterise sphingolipid transport systems. You will determine high resolution single particle cryo-EM structures of sphingolipid transpo