Postdoctoral Research Associate – Heinzen Lab

Position Summary/Description:

The Heinzen laboratory in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is looking to immediately fill multiple postdoctoral fellowship positions to study the genetic and genomic bases of epilepsy conditions with a particular focus on brain-tissue specific genetic variants mediating seizures. The successful candidate will be part of a highly interdisciplinary environment that seeks to identify and functionally characterize genetic variants in epilepsy in order to identify novel treatment approaches in epilepsy.
The successful candidate will optimize and implement cutting-edge genomic analyses, including but not limited to long-read sequencing, whole genome sequencing, single cell sequencing, and chromatin conformation capture techniques, to detect somatic and germline genetic variants mutations brain tissue specimens responsible for epilepsy. The fellow will also be tasked with developing novel approaches to analyzing the genomic data generated. Depending on expertise and interest, the applicant could have opportunities functionally characterize epilepsy associated variants in vitro in cellular models.
The ultimate goal is for postdoctoral fellows to develop specialized skill sets to drive independent research programs that can launch independent research careers.

Education and Experience:

Excellent communication, organization, writing, and willingness to be part of collaborative team science skills are also essential.