The molecular physiopathology and new treatments of viral hepatitis team of Pr Fabien Zoulim is seeking a highly motivated, independent, efficient, hard working and young (< 3 year post thesis) postdoctoral fellow. Scientific projects encompass basic, translational as well as clinic research in close collaboration with the Liver Unit of Pr Fabien Zoulim based at the Croix-Rousse Hospital.

The project
The recruited candidate will be in charge of a project aiming at better understanding the role of wild-type and mutants of the HBx protein in the HBV life cycle. To this end, a transcomplementation assay based on the infection with HBx-deficient virus of recombinant HepaRG cell lines expressing in a conditional manner WT or mutants (clinical and experimental) HBx proteins and validated in a recent publication (Lucifora et al., J. Hepatol. 2011), will be used. Conventional molecular and cellular biology techniques will be used to further validate the importance of the HBx/host-factor interaction for HBV replication in vitro and in vivo.

The Lab:
The team of Pr Fabien Zoulim is part of the “Immunity, Microenvironment, and Virus” department within the Cancer Research Center of Lyon (CRCL, Lyon, France). CRCL, one of the largest Cancer Research Cancer in France, is a public joint venture between INSERM, CNRS, Hospitals (CLB and HCL), and the University of Lyon. CRCL is composed of 3 departments, 17 teams, and is headed by Pr Puisieux. CRCL, which was created in 2011, employs around 400 people who are dedicated to basic as well as translational research in the field of Cancerology. CRCL is equipped with the most advanced technologies and benefit from acess to many technical platforms.
The team is located in a large laboratory fully adapted to perform molecular and cellular virology on class 2 and 3 viruses, including hepatitis B, C , and D viruses, as well as lentiviruses. It is composed of 6 permanent researchers, 5 post-docs, 8 PhD students, 5 engineers/technicians, and a variable number of master students. -

The Candidate:
The candidate should have obtained a PhD in the last 3 years in the field of molecular or cellular virology. It should have gained a solid experience in the manipulation and the study of virus(es) using molecular biology (PCR/qPCR based, non-PCR-based technologies, cloning, lentivirus construction, ChIP analyses…), cellular biology (transfection, IF staining, confocal and electronic microscopy) and biochemical techniques (western blotting, IP/coIP, protein/protein interaction, masspectrometry…). Any additional experience in technologies aiming at studying protein/protein interaction will be welcome. A theoretical and technical knowledge on the hepatitis B virus would be an advantage but is not compulsory, as specific training could be provided by researchers (permanent researchers and Postdocs) and engineers/technicians of the team.

Funding:
The team is funded by various national, European as well as other international grants. The present project is funded by both academic and private grants for an initial period of two years.