Postdoc Fellow on Cancer Genomics, Metabolism, and/or Bioinformatics

Job Title: Postdoc Fellow on Cancer Genomics, Metabolism, and/or Bioinformatics

Job Number: 65659

Location: Memphis, US

Job Description

Postdoctoral positions are available in the lab of Dr. Jian Xu at Department of Pathology and Center of Excellence for Leukemia Studies (CELS) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to study the gene regulatory and/or metabolic processes that control stem cell development and cancers. We employ genomics, single-cell multiomics, (epi)genome editing, metabolomics, and mouse genetics to define disease-associated genetic and metabolic programs that control stem cell development, and how these processes go awry in cancer progression.

Our lab is equipped with cutting-edge genomics, molecular biology and bioinformatics platforms, including an in-house illumina sequencer, 10xGenomics single-cell technologies, Nanopore long-reads sequencing instrument, LC-MS and GS-MS-based metabolomics, and flow cytometry. Our team brings together enthusiastic scientists with diverse backgrounds, and provides a wide range of perspectives in a multi-disciplinary and collaborative team setting. Since we established the laboratory in 2014, our team has published a series of impactful papers, which include:

·     Development of a CRISPR-based CAPTURE approach for in situ analysis of chromatin interactions (Cell 170:1028, 2017)

·     Reported that loss of EZH2 reprograms branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) metabolism to drive leukemic transformation (Cancer Discovery 9:1228, 2019)

·     Reported an integrative pipeline to identify pathogenic non-coding variants connecting enhancer dysregulation with nuclear receptor signaling in blood cancers (Cancer Discovery 10:724, 2020)

·     Discovered that the epigenetic silencing of LINE-1 retrotransposons is a selective dependency of myeloid leukemia (Nature Genetics 53:672, 2021)

·     Described novel mechanisms driving therapy resistance to FDA-approved therapies in myeloid leukemia (Cancer Discovery 13:170, 2023)

Some potential research projects:

·     Single-cell lineage tracing, perturbation, and multiomics of clonal evolution in childhood cancers

·     The crosstalk between epigenetics and metabolism in development and cancer

·     The function and regulation of genomic transposable elements in development and cancer

·     Develop computational and experimental approach to study 3D cancer genome using long-reads sequencing technologies

Candidates must hold a Ph.D. and/or M.D. degree with a strong background in computational biology, cancer biology and/or a related field. The ideal candidate will exhibit independence, flexibility and creativity with a record of scientific productivity. Previous experience in genomics, computational biology, and/or hematology-oncology is strongly preferred.

Interested individuals should send a CV, a short summary of research interest and experience, and a list of three references to:

Jian Xu, Ph.D.

Member (Professor)

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Email: [Please click the Apply button for the link or email]

Application Deadline: 2024-03-01