Postdoctoral position in HIV-1 antiviral drug discovery

The Catholic University of Valencia offers a postdoctoral position at the laboratory led by José Gallego. The postdoctoral associate will work in a research project funded by the PROMETEO program of Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, and focused on the discovery of antiviral small-molecule agents blocking the complex between the Rev protein and the Rev Recognition Element in the HIV-1 RNA. This action precludes nuclear export of unspliced or singly-spliced viral transcripts, an essential step in the virus cycle that is not targeted by any of the currently marketed antiretroviral treatments. A consortium of structural biology, chemistry and virology laboratories at Catholic University of Valencia, University of Barcelona and the IrsiCaixa and ISCIII research institutes in Spain will use data-based compound design, chemical syntheses, biochemical and biophysical analyses, and ex vivo and in vivo antiviral assays to achieve this goal. HIV/AIDS remains one of the leading contributors to the global burden of disease, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.