Job:Postdoctoral Research Associate

Question

[Ta-Chiang]

POSITION SUMMARY: Combining single-cell technology, bioinformatic analysis, RNA biology, and mechanistic interrogations on clinical samples revolutionized our understanding of viral immune responses. The Liu Lab at Washington University School of Medicine (https://sites.wustl.edu/liulab/people-page-page/) is recruiting motivated, productive, independent, and collegial postdocs interested in using bioinformatics to interrogate gut immunity. The immediate projects may involve spatial transcriptomic analysis of clinical samples from people with inflammatory bowel diseases, mechanistic understanding of epigenetic and transcriptional regulation of gut epithelial cell differentiation, or mechanistic understanding of how diet modulate both innate and adaptive immune cells. This postdoctoral researcher will combine wet-lab molecular biology methods, dry-lab bioinformatic analysis, and a translational approach using samples from mice and humans. The overall goal is to understand mechanisms of gut mucosal immunity homeostasis. The start date is negotiable.

Selected publications:

1. Liu TC, Kern JT, Jain U, Sonnek NM, Xiong S, Simpson KF, VanDussen KL, Winkler ES, Haritunians T, Malique A, Lu Q, Sasaki Y, Storer C, Diamond MS, Head RD, McGovern DPB, Stappenbeck TS. Western diet induces Paneth cell defects through microbiome alterations and farnesoid X receptor and type I interferon activation. Cell Host Microbe. 2021 May 12:S1931-3128(21)00180-3.
2. Balasubramanian I, Bandyopadhyay S, Flores J, Lin X, Liu H, Sun S, Golovchenko NB. Liu Y, Patel R, Bianchi-Smak J, Joseph I, Suntornsaratoon P, Vargas J, Green PHR, Bhagt G, Ferraris R, Lagana SM, Ying W, Zhang Y, Wang Z, Li WV, Singh S, Zhou Z, Kollias G, Yu S, Wei Z, Bonder EM, Zhang L, Edelblum KL, Liu TC, Gao N. Stress activated Paneth cell subset propagates inflammation. The EMBO Journal. 2023 Sep 18:e113975
3. Malique A, Sun S, Chandwe K, Amadi B, Haritunians T, Jain U, Muegge BD, Frein J, Sasaki Y, Foster A, Storer CE, Mengesha E, Kern J, McGovern DPB, Head RD, Kelly P, Liu TC. NAD+ precursors and bile acid sequestration treat preclinical refractory environmental enteric dysfunction. Sci Transl Med. 2024 Jan 3;16(728):eabq4145. PMID: 38170788.
4. Hung CT, Ma C, Panda SK, Trsan T, Hodel M, Frein J, Foster A, Sun S, Wu HT, Kern J, Mishra R, Jain U, Ho YC, Colonna M, Stappenbeck TS, Liu TC. Western diet reduces small intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes via FXR-Interferon pathway. Mucosal Immunol 2024 July. Online ahead of print. PMID: 38992433.
5. Sun S, Hodel M, Wang X, De Vicente J, Haritunians T, Debebe A, Ma C, Malique A, Nguyen HN, Agam M, Rishra R, Frein J, Foster A, Ballentine S, Kern J, Yang S, Mengesha E, Balasubramanian I, Arguello A, Estrada AA, Gao N, Peter I, McGovern DPB, Henry AG, Stappenbeck TS, Liu TC. Macrophage LRRK2 hyperactivity impairs autophagy and induces Paneth cell dysfunction. Science Immunology 2024 Nov. 9, eadi7907.

JOB DESCRIPTION

PRINCIPAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
The training will involve (a) the development and application of innovative single-cell RNAseq methods, which may include spatial transcriptomics, (b) bioinformatic analysis of single-cell genomics datasets, (c) a translational approach using blood or tissue samples from humans, or mice, (d) wet-lab methods in microbiology (such as sterile cell culture in an enhanced biosafety level 2 (BSL2+) lab), immunology (such as flow cytometry), and molecular biology (such as CRISPR, RNA biology), (e) collaboration with other researchers both inside and outside of Washington University, including virologists, immunologists, bioinformaticians, computer scientists, and clinicians, (f) presentation in international conferences, and (g) manuscript preparation and grant applications.

JOB LOCATION/WORKING CONDITIONS: Works in a laboratory environment with potential exposure to blood and chemical hazards.

CRITICAL SKILLS/EXPERTISE: (a) a track record of research productivity, as evidenced by first-authored original publication(s) in high-quality peer-reviewed journals; (b) experience or interests in programming languages such as R or python; (c) independence to lead a project as well as willingness to work in a team; (d) an open mind to learn new methods from junior researchers and collaborators; (e) good scientific presentation and writing skills. Previous experience and publications in bioinformatics, immunology, or virology are preferred but not required.

MINIMUM EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE: A recent (<4 years) PhD degree in bioinformatics, genomics, genetics, microbiology, molecular biology, immunology, or a related discipline; PhD students who are about to graduate are eligible.

SUPERVISION: The appointee trains under the supervision of Principal Investigator.

Interested candidates may send a CV, a personal statement, and the contact information for three referees to [e-mail]. The applicant is encouraged to read one of the above publications and describe interests in related work.