Postdoctoral Associate, Microbiology and Immunology

A Postdoctoral Associate position on an NIH-funded research project is available in the laboratory of Dr. Chelsie Armbruster in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at University at Buffalo, the State University of New York.

The Armbruster lab studies microbe-microbe and host-microbe interactions in the context of the catheterized urinary tract. Current funded research is focused on identifying genomic adaptations that occur within bacteria during prolonged colonization of a urinary catheter and examining the influence of these adaptations on interactions with other bacteria as well as pathogenesis in various infection models.

The Postdoctoral Associate will be responsible for:

• Isolating DNA from longitudinal bacterial isolates, generating high-quality hybrid genome assemblies
• Examining gain and loss of genes and genomics islands as well as single nucleotide variation across longitudinal isolates
• Generating adapted and revertant strains through allelic exchange, and examining the contribution of these genetic changes to pathogenesis-related phenotypes.
• Generating metagenome assembled genomes from shotgun sequencing data and assessing relative abundance of strain variants across longitudinal urine specimens.

The Postdoctoral Associate will have the opportunity to work in a collaborative environment, gain experience in studying polymicrobial interactions, receive mentoring towards research and career development, attend and present at conferences, and participate in mentoring others if desired.

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Minimum Qualifications

• Doctoral degree or equivalent from a foreign university in area related to the specific specialty of your department is required.
• All degree requirements including dissertation, must be completed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in Bash, Python, and R
• Experience with bacterial genomics, particularly with SPAdes, Prokka, Roary, RaxML, Kraken, breseq, and iTOL.
• Ability to work independently and in a collaborative team.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, as evidenced by first-author publication(s) and research presentation(s).
• Experience with molecular cloning and bacterial pathogenesis.