POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN TRANSLATIONAL MICROBIOME RESEARCH AND THERAPEUTICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, INSTITUTE FOR GENOME SCIENCES, CENTER FOR ADVANCED MICROBIOME RESEARCH & INNOVATION

The research groups of Dr. Bing Ma at the Center for Advanced Microbiome Research & Innovation (CAMRI), Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS), Department of Microbiology and Immunology (MMI), and Dr. Jonathan Bromberg at the Department of Surgery and MMI, University of Maryland School of Medicine seek applicants for a postdoctoral scholar position. The fellow will be co-mentored by Drs. Ma and Bromberg and will work at the interface of microbiology, microbiome science, host–microbe interactions, immunology, and translational therapeutics .

Qualifications :

Qualified candidates will be enthusiastic, highly motivated, and interested in understanding how gut microorganisms influence host physiology and disease and in developing microbiome-based therapeutic strategies. The research will focus on 1) how chronic immunosuppressive therapies reshape the gut microbiome and microbial metabolic functions; 2) how specific microorganisms and microbiome-derived metabolites interact with host immune and tissue responses to influence transplant outcomes; and 3) discovery, mechanistic characterization, and preclinical development of beneficial microbes, probiotics, defined microbial consortia, and postbiotics to restore host–microbiome homeostasis and improve clinical outcomes .

A major emphasis of the position will be experimental and mechanistic microbiology. We have a strong preference for microbiologists with experience in microbial cultivation and working knowledge in computational analysis of omics data or, equally, computational biologists/statisticians with a deep appreciation of microbiology, microbial physiology, and biological mechanisms. Projects may involve isolation and cultivation of anaerobic gut microorganisms, strain-level phenotyping, microbial physiology and metabolism, host–microbe interaction studies, manipulation of microbial communities, and functional evaluation of candidate probiotic strains and microbial metabolites in cellular and animal models. The fellow will have opportunities to translate discoveries from human cohorts into experimentally testable microbial interventions and to investigate their mechanisms of action.

The program combines microbial cultivation, molecular microbiology, immunology, metabolomics, and animal models with genomic and multi-omics technologies. Depending on the project, approaches may include microbial genome sequencing, metagenomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, single-cell or spatial profiling, and computational analysis. These technologies will be used primarily to identify microbial functions, define mechanisms of probiotic or postbiotic activity, and guide development of microbiome-directed therapeutics .

The ideal applicant is expected to:

• have experience with or a strong interest in anaerobic microbial cultivation, isolation and characterization of gut microorganisms, bacterial physiology, and experimental manipulation of microbial communities ;

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN TRANSLATIONAL MICROBIOME RESEARCH AND THERAPEUTICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, INSTITUTE FOR GENOME SCIENCES, CENTER FOR ADVANCED MICROBIOME RESEARCH & INNOVATION

The research groups of Dr. Bing Ma at the Center for Advanced Microbiome Research & Innovation (CAMRI), Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS), Department of Microbiology and Immunology (MMI), and Dr. Jonathan Bromberg at the Department of Surgery and MMI, University of Maryland School of Medicine seek applicants for a postdoctoral scholar position. The fellow will be co-mentored by Drs. Ma and Bromberg and will work at the interface of microbiology, microbiome science, host–microbe interactions, immunology, and translational therapeutics .

Qualifications :

Qualified candidates will be enthusiastic, highly motivated, and interested in understanding how gut microorganisms influence host physiology and disease and in developing microbiome-based therapeutic strategies. The research will focus on 1) how chronic immunosuppressive therapies reshape the gut microbiome and microbial metabolic functions; 2) how specific microorganisms and microbiome-derived metabolites interact with host immune and tissue responses to influence transplant outcomes; and 3) discovery, mechanistic characterization, and preclinical development of beneficial microbes, probiotics, defined microbial consortia, and postbiotics to restore host–microbiome homeostasis and improve clinical outcomes .

A major emphasis of the position will be experimental and mechanistic microbiology. We have a strong preference for microbiologists with experience in microbial cultivation and working knowledge in computational analysis of omics data or, equally, computational biologists/statisticians with a deep appreciation of microbiology, microbial physiology, and biological mechanisms. Projects may involve isolation and cultivation of anaerobic gut microorganisms, strain-level phenotyping, microbial physiology and metabolism, host–microbe interaction studies, manipulation of microbial communities, and functional evaluation of candidate probiotic strains and microbial metabolites in cellular and animal models. The fellow will have opportunities to translate discoveries from human cohorts into experimentally testable microbial interventions and to investigate their mechanisms of action.

The program combines microbial cultivation, molecular microbiology, immunology, metabolomics, and animal models with genomic and multi-omics technologies. Depending on the project, approaches may include microbial genome sequencing, metagenomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, single-cell or spatial profiling, and computational analysis. These technologies will be used primarily to identify microbial functions, define mechanisms of probiotic or postbiotic activity, and guide development of microbiome-directed therapeutics .

The ideal applicant is expected to:

• have experience with or a strong interest in anaerobic microbial cultivation, isolation and characterization of gut microorganisms, bacterial physiology, and experimental manipulation of microbial communities ;