Postdoctoral Research Scientist

The Department of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center seeks a highly qualified Postdoctoral Research Scientist who is passionate about studying and engineering adaptive immune responses to pathogenic viruses, gene therapy vectors, and/or cellular therapies. The successful candidate may pursue projects about vaccine development, virus evolution, gene therapy vector engineering, or optimization of adoptive cellular therapies, depending on their interests and expertise. They will be embedded in an interdisciplinary team with diverse experimental, computational, and engineering skillsets, integrating cutting-edge techniques from molecular systems biology, virology, and immunology. The successful candidate will lead their project and perform molecular biology experiments, mouse model applications, and computational analyses in close collaboration with the team. This position, based in the Mellis Lab and located in the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, emphasizes mentorship, personalized career development, and collaboration across domains.

At CUIMC, we stand together because diverse experiences, perspective, and values enrich every dimension of our work. Join our team and see how your unique skills and experiences can create a real impact by changing lives.

Job Function

• Organize and execute experiments for dissecting the molecular basis of adaptive immune responses against evolving viruses or viral vectors, or engineering adoptive cellular therapies.
• Design and optimize high-throughput sequencing-based workflows for analyzing large pools of BSL-2-rated pseudovirus models or genetically engineered lymphocytes.
• Plan and conduct mouse model-based experiments for testing immune responses to candidate vaccines, gene therapy vectors, or cellular therapies.
• Analyze and interpret high-throughput RNA sequencing data.
• Integrate experimental and computational data.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams.
• Communicate results and conclusions through preprints, publications, seminars, conference presentations, and other open science avenues.

Lab Mission/Purpose

The Mellis Lab welcomes molecular biologists, virologists, immunologists, physicians, engineers, mathematicians, and computational scientists to collaborate and provide unique insights at the intersection between adaptive immunity, viral evolution, and gene and cell therapies.

Minimum Education Requirements

Ph.D. in microbiology, immunology, quantitative biology, genomics, or a related field

Minimum Skills Required

• Core molecular biology techniques
• Some genetic engineering
• Gene expression analysis, including RNA sequencing (bulk, single-cell, and/or long-read) data analysis
• Experimental project leadership experience
• Some hands-on experience with mouse or rat models or tissues
• Strong record of productivity, creativity, and collaboration in interdisciplinary research environments

Hiring Salary Range

Postdoctoral Research Scientist- $72,116.00-$72,116.00