Postoctoral Researcher

Postoctoral Researcher

Location: University of Pennsylvania - School of Medicine

Open Date: Oct 09, 2025

Faculty Mentor: Samantha Piekos, Ph.D.

Department: Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics

Funding Sources: Grant

Number of Positions: 1

Open to applications from U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Integrate and analyze longitudinal multi-omics datasets (lipidomics, metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics) from blood, urine, and placenta with vaginal and gut microbiome, wearable, clinical and environmental data.
• Perform network analyses, including community structure modeling, to characterize physiological changes across pregnancy.
• Identify molecular disruptions in obstetric syndromes (e.g., preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, preterm birth).
• Apply trajectory modeling and outlier detection to identify earliest deviations from healthy pregnancy pathways.
• Collaborate with clinical and experimental teams to generate biologically meaningful insights.
• Develop independence through activities including, but not limited to, writing peer-reviewed publications for research conferences and journals, giving presentations at research conferences, and assisting in grant proposal development.

The position is open until filled. The initial appointment is for two years, with the possibility of extension for a third year based on performance and mutual agreement.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Computer Science, Systems Biology, Statistics, or a related field.
• Demonstrated expertise in data integration, machine learning, or network biology.
• Experience with large-scale omics data analysis.
• Proficiency in R and/or Python programming.
• Strong statistical and modeling skills.
• Excellent communication and writing abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in multi-omics integration frameworks and dimensionality reduction.
• Familiarity with longitudinal or epidemiological study design.
• Background in systems biology of complex physiological processes.
• Knowledge of AI/ML methods for trajectory prediction and anomaly detection.
• Interest in maternal-fetal health, developmental biology, or reproductive biology.