"POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN THE CANCER EPIGENETICS GROUP"

Job Description

AVAILABLE A POSTDOCTORAL POSITION IN THE CANCER EPIGENETICS GROUP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, INSTITUTE FOR GENOME SCIENCES.

The cancer epigenetics group of Dr. Gaykalova at the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS, http://www.igs.umaryland.edu) seeks applicants for a postdoctoral research position. IGS at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine is an interdisciplinary, multi-departmental team of collaborative investigators with a broad research program related to the basic and translational sciences, genomics, epigenetics, and bioinformatics. The impact of the members of IGS on the genomics field has been substantial, with more than 2000 publications during the past 26 years, which have been cited more than 300,000 times, making IGS one of the most productive institution in the region.

The Gaykalova Lab comprises the innovative, creative, and systematic studies of head and neck cancer and looking for a new understanding of cancer biology to improve disease detection and treatment. Thus, the main research within the laboratory is focused around epigenetic regulation of gene expression. In particular, we investigate the role of enhancers in transcription control, and how changes in enhancer activity affects cell physiology and cancer transformation. We adopt innovative sequencing technologies (RNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, ATAC-Seq, and more) to the bulk and single-cell samples from patient samples or their pre-clinical models (human and animal cell cultures, primary culture and patient-derived xenografts), and state-of-the-art functional technologies (CRISPR, siRNA, shRNA, and other gene manipulation techniques). Our work is published in top-tier journals - Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Nature Communications, PNAS, NAR, and others.

The Gaykalova Lab is looking for an enthusiastic, highly-motivated postdoc, interested in cancer epigenetics. In particular, a qualified candidate will lead the project focused on the elucidating of the chromatin structure abnormalities of head and neck cancer patient samples to find changes in both 2D and 3D chromatin structure, and how these changes affect gene expression, and how the chromatin structure drives the mutational landscape in cancer samples. Such analysis will be coupled with modern functional studies and incorporate epigenetic treatment to modulate both tumor cells and the cells of its microenvironment using diverse pre-clinical models.

Qualifications

The ideal applicant is expected to:

• possess an expertise of cellular and molecular biology techniques and to understand computational approaches including genome sequencing and data analysis
• lead the independent project(s), designs, develops, executes, and implements scientific experiments, adopt novel technologies to the sample analysis, produce and visualize data for presentation at scientific meetings and for publications
• write research and review papers, and to contribute the peer-review process and grant writing
• have strong and effective inter-personal and communication skills and ability to work effectively both as a part of the group and individually
• hold a doctoral degree in cellular and molecular biology, cancer biology, genetics, bioengineering, or other related fields.

The successful candidate will benefit from a community of interactive research labs, bioinformatics experts and a variety of sequencing, and computational resources available in a world-class institute dedicated to genomic, basic, and translational research to improve human health at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine.

To apply, please send a CV, a statement of research interests (1 page maximum), and contact information for three references to Dr. Daria Gaykalova: dgaykalova@som.umaryland.edu.

Consideration of candidates will begin upon receipt of applications and will continue until the position is filled.