Animal Technician (AT) - Schistosomiasis Drug Discovery

We are seeking to appoint a highly motivated Animal Technician (AT) to join an energetic and enthusiastic team of investigators working on a new project, ‘Accelerating pre-clinical drug discovery for schistosomiasis’, funded by Wellcome. This is a collaborative project built upon the interdisciplinary expertise of Aberystwyth University, University of Dundee and UT Southwestern Medical Center. The research programme is structured across two milestones and the funding for Milestone 2 will be confirmed by the external sponsor following the successful completion of Milestone 1 (31 December 2027).

With at least 240 million people suffering from schistosomiasis, a neglected infectious disease caused by parasitic trematode worms of the genusSchistosoma and with no vaccine near clinical deployment, the cornerstone of schistosomiasis control is predominantly facilitated by just one single chemotherapeutic agent, praziquantel (PZQ). PZQ, however, is ineffectual against juvenile worms and, with its increased use in mass administration programs, increased resistance to the treatment is a major concern. Consequently, this Wellcome project aims to develop and apply the most advanced tools to increase drug discovery efficiency and make these available to the international NTD drug discovery community. To achieve morbidity control and elimination, new effective treatment options are required. This project aims to accelerate the progression of new chemical entities (NCEs) towards clinical candidate selection and the project team will combine phenotypic and target-based drug discovery to accelerate the drug discovery process.