"RESEARCH FELLOW"

The Parolia Laboratory at the Rogel Cancer Center is looking for an energetic, highly motivated individual to join our cancer biology and therapeutic team as a post-doctoral fellow. Candidates who enjoy a fast-paced lab environment focused on basic science and translational chromatin/epigenetic cancer research are encouraged to apply. 

This position is ideal for a recent (or soon to be) PhD graduate who is interested in strengthening their experimental, analytical, and publishing skills before transitioning to independence within academia or bio-pharma industry. Transferring these skills to future scientists is central to the Parolia Lab’s mission (see below for details). The candidate will work as part of a small research team (comprising 2 to 3 individuals) to functionally interrogate epigenetic and chromatin regulatory proteins that activate key cancer-fueling pathways in hormone-driven (i.e., prostate and breast) cancers and pediatric sarcomas. They will also assess druggability of these genes using novel inhibitory/degrader drugs in preclinical models. 

The individual should be familiar with routine molecular biology techniques and have an educational background in biomedical sciences or related subjects. The candidate will work under direct supervision of the Principal Investigator Dr. Abhijit Parolia, an Assistant Professor in Pathology & Urology in the Michigan medical school. The candidate will be provided thorough training in all tasks required as part of the job and will be involved in collaborative and intellectually engaging translational research.

• 2D monolayer cell culture maintenance: Culture adherent and suspension cells, plate cells for experiments, generate cryo-frozen stocks and maintain detailed record of the cell line bank.
• Generation and maintenance of 3D organoids: Virally-engineer normal and cancerous prostate organoids from mouse and human donors to interrogate the functional role of chromatin and epigenetic driver oncogenes in transformation and metastatic progression.
• In vitro characterization of drug lead compounds in cancer cell lines: Calculate of IC50, perform proliferation assays etc.
• Functional assays: Perform protein and RNA extraction from cells and tumor tissue, western blot, co-immunoprecipitation, qPCR, ELISA assay, gDNA extraction, T7 endonuclease assay, bacterial transformation and plasmid propagation, DNA cloning and point mutagenesis.
• Generation of CRISPR-Cas9-engineered models: Engineer cancer cells using the CRISPR-Cas9 technique to either knock-out or knock-in genes-of-interest and generate monoclonal lines. Perform phenotypic characterization of successfully engineered clones and employ them in high-throughput CRISPR screens.
• Maintaining mouse colonies: this work will involve restraining SCID, FVB, and NSG mice, ear tagging, tumor measuring, subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, and intra-cardiac injections of cells to generate tumor models, bioluminescence Imaging, and animal necropsy.
• Other wet-lab techniques or assays maybe involved depending on how the project progresses.

Required Qualifications:

• Must possess either a terminal doctoral degree (i.e. Ph.D) or a professional doctorate (e.g. M.D., DD.S., D.V.M)
• Must be pursuing advanced scientific or scholarly training, which may be in a clinical setting but is outside of the traditional clinical service and does not involve direct patient care.
• If the degree is not completed at the time of initiating background check and the background vendor is unable to verify. The HR Generalist can request from the candidate a letter from the school stating they have completed all requirements from the degree. The letter must be provided from the school’s letterhead and most schools will provide the college/university seal
• If the candidate is unable to provide the document and the department would like to hire the candidate and they can hire them in other research titles that meet their qualifications.
• Basic cell and molecular biology background.
• Basic molecular biology experimentation skills.
• Strong organizational and multi-tasking skills.
• Good documentation and communication skills.
• Ability and willingness to learn and implement novel experimental techniques.
• At least 1 year of wet-laboratory work experience (full/part-time).
• Knowledge & understanding of laboratory safety and working hazards.

Preferred Qualifications:

PhD (or equivalent) in Biomedical Sciences or related subjects.

The Parolia Lab launched in Fall 2023 at the Rogel Cancer Center in the UM Hospital. The lab seeks to create a work culture based on respect, integrity, perseverance, and fun. We aspire to be creative, collaborative, and caring scientists while studying one of the most menacing diseases of our times. We will routinely collaborate with cancer labs both nationally and globally, creating a rich and holistic learning and training environment. Thus, we welcome applicants of all kinds with diverse career aspirations.