Monthly Archives: September 2012

Paid news internship at Nature Medicine

Posted on by
Reply

We’re looking for a person who is passionate about biomedicine and journalism to join our team as a news intern.

The intern will be closely involved in the editorial process and write news articles and briefs. This is not a paper-pushing internship! The person selected for the position will be reporting stories and working on editorial content full-time, including this very blog.

Applicants should have completed one year in a graduate program in journalism or have equivalent work experience in journalism. Additionally, a strong understanding of biology and current issues in medicine is required. This four-month, paid internship will start in October and be based in New York City.

The deadline for applications is 8 October 2012.

Please send an email to r.khamsi@us.nature.com with “Nature Medicine news internship” in the subject line and include 1) a cover letter, 2) your resume and 3) three published writing clips.

Seeking a locum assistant editor for this very journal

Posted on by
Reply

We’re looking for a Locum Assistant Editor to join our editorial team for a period of approximately six months.

This position, based in Nature Publishing Group’s New York office, involves working closely with the Chief Editor and other members of the journal team on several aspects of the editorial process, including manuscript evaluation, organizing peer-review and writing for the journal.

Candidates should have expertise in the field of cancer, a broad interest in biomedical science,excellent communication skills, willingness to learn new fields, and the ability to work to tight deadlines with the other members of the team. Applicants will be required to hold a Ph.D. degree. Previous editorial experience would be an advantage, but is not essential.

More details on how to apply can be found here.

New genetic analysis narrows HIV vaccine targets

Posted on by
Reply

The road to a protective HIV vaccine has not been easy thus far. The failed STEP trial, halted in 2007, was just one major trip-up among several, and two years later the massive RV144 trial from Thailand spurred controversy about efficacy rates. Part of the problem is that researchers have long struggled over the best target for the HIV vaccine.

A study published online today in Nature from researchers in the US and Thailand should help scientists inch closer to settling that debate. Through genetic analysis, the study suggests that specific amino acid sequences found in the HIV V2 protein loop—there are five total loops on the outside of the viral envelope—could lead to improve vaccine effectiveness.

The current RV144 vaccine contains three synthetic HIV genes. One, called the ENV gene, produces the ‘envelope’ (Env) protein loops. To understand how the vaccine exerted influence on the virus, the researchers sequenced more than 1,000 HIV virus genomes from 110 ‘breakthrough’ viruses isolated from 44 vaccinated participants and regular viruses found in 66 placebo recipients.

Continue reading →