Postdoctoral Fellow (Natural Products Chemistry) at icipe - African Insect Science for Food and Health

Overall purpose of the job

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is currently a threat to global health. It is estimated that AMR may cause up to 10 million deaths annually by 2050, adverse symptoms to patients, and more than $100  trillion in economic loss globally. The misuse of readily available antibiotics both in agriculture and human health propels bacterial mutations, consequently leading to AMR. New frontiers in curbing this menace is through the identification of new antibacterial compounds that can be advanced into medications with possibly new mechanisms of action. Insects, which are also a source of many nutraceutical properties, are the most diverse in the environment. There has been experimental proof that they contain polyphenols such as flavonoids in their tissues and are an enormous source of proteins, making them fit for use as both human food and animal feed. These proteins also make up the source of the innate immune system that insects contain. They can be easily hydrolyzed into polypeptides and peptides, offering defensive properties to the host. Moreover, insects survive in extremely harsh environments full of pathogenic microorganisms, inferring that they may have wellestablished modes of defense against predators. They also harbour a plethora of defensive and nutritive symbionts in their guts, which fall under the least explored niches of antimicrobial agents. Black soldier fly, for instance, has proved to be very successful in adapting to even extreme environments where food, space, and competition present significant challenges to them. To overcome these challenges, insects often get involved in vast symbiosis with other life forms such as fungi and bacteria in their habitats. Symbiotic interactions can either be based on defensive or nutritional services provided by the symbiont to the host. Symbionts that provide nutritional services to the host produce digestive enzymes aiding the insect in the degradation of plant materials that have limited insect-accessible molecules but are rich in dietary polymers such as lignin and cellulose. Defensive symbionts on the other hand secrete antimicrobial compounds (either peptides or small molecules) to protect the host against pathogens some of them have been studied and shown to have antagonistic activities against human pathogens and may be advanced for clinical use. However, only a handful of insects have been investigated so far in this realm and mainly in other regions. The need to undertake screening studies on the edible insects found in the sub-Saharan African region and tailor them to their beneficial aspects on human/animal and environmental health is a requisite research gap that needs to be addressed. This is a new niche that has been underexplored and will open avenues to disseminate the knowledge to greater lengths, foster international networking, and importantly uncover new scaffolds of secondary metabolites for clinical use. The use of locally available resources (insects reared at icipe) is an added advantage to the sustainable development of products in the long run. This position will deliver innovative research that addresses a wide range of unique and critical issues associated with human health, crop and animal health, and environmental health in the context of ONE HEALTH. Within the scope of the above and overall objectives of the INSEFF program, icipe is seeking applications from highly motivated candidates for the position of post-doctoral fellow– Natural Products Chemistry: Harnessing antimicrobial agents. The ideal candidate will support research programmes in the Insects for Food, Feed, and Other Uses Programme in icipe’s Environmental Health Theme.

Specific duties
The successful candidate is expected to:

•  Conduct laboratory and field experiments with the microbial cultures obtained from the gut of edible insects with a view to controlling antimicrobial resistance.
•  Perform sample preparation, analysis, and identification of bio-active chemical components using various chromatographic techniques such as HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS and their structure determination using spectroscopic techniques.
•  Identify the gaps in the antimicrobial resistance research and link up with the current work on the mode of action of the isolated compounds and their mechanism.
•  Determine other bio-functional properties of the compounds isolated that can improve environmental health.
•  Carry out molecular studies (genomics) on the microbes associated with edible insects.
•  Analysis and documentation of the experimental data using multivariate techniques.
•  Manuscript writing and grant mobilizations.
•  Supervision of postgraduate students and other relevant members of the team.

Requirements/qualifications

•  PhD in Chemistry with at least 3 years of postgraduate experience using analytical techniques and microbiological skills.
•  Good number of publications on the identification and structure determination of antimicrobial compounds and their interaction with the host organism.
•  Should be at most 38 years old at the time of application for this position.
•  Hands-on skills in the operation of HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS/MS, and analysis of NMR spectra.
•  Additional skills in bioinformatics and organic synthesis would be an advantage.
•  Must have an excellent publication track record.
•  Additional knowledge on the formulation of the active ingredients into tangible products for wide applicability.

Core Competencies

•  Demonstrated ability to mobilize resources for effective research in the antimicrobial resistance field.
•  Ability to create and foster an innovative work environment, including team building to deliver agreed goals.
•  High degree of organization, adaptability, and prioritization.
•  Experience in capacity building through supervision and mentorship of postgraduate and undergraduate students.
•  Excellent communication skills and collaborative network of partners at national and international levels

Reporting

• This position reports to the Senior Scientist and Head of Insects for Food, Feed and Other Uses (NSEFF) Programme and the Head of Environmental Health Theme.