Postdoctoral Fellow

The University of Texas at Austin • Austin, TX

7d • Onsite

About The Position

The Postdoctoral Fellow reports to Dr. Maria Croyle in the College of Pharmacy to facilitate a funded research project to evaluate the physical and biochemical properties of materials that sustain the viability of primary cells and established cell lines when stored at ambient and elevated temperatures. A secondary focus will be the evaluation of the performance of a panel of stabilized vaccines (viral, mRNA, protein subunit) after administration in several in vivo models of infectious disease.

Requirements

• A Ph.D. degree in Materials Science, Bioengineering, Drug Delivery, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Immunology, or other related life sciences. PhD must have been earned within three years of start date.
• Demonstrated ability to adapt to diverse interdisciplinary research projects
• Superior time management, critical thinking, documentation and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to publish novel research in peer reviewed journals.

Nice To Haves

• 1-2 years post-PhD research experience
• Experience in aseptic technique, working under BSL II conditions and animal work a plus
• Experience with virus-based assays (infectious titer, neutralizing antibodies)
• Experience in performing flow cytometry with primary cells
• Experience in working with mRNA based vaccines a plus
• Some experience in bioinformatics / analysis of RNA-Seq datasets a plus

Responsibilities

• Perform general experiments, some of which may require design of protocols to optimize and characterize formulations in which vaccines and cells are stored
• Perform in vivo experiments including preparation and characterization of vaccine candidates, collection and processing of samples, data analysis
• Publish and present work in high quality peer reviewed journals and at national/international meetings
• Provide support in writing and preparation of grant applications (NIH, NSF, DOD etc)
• Maintain records of safety and other administrative documents required for continual operation of the lab
• Additional duties as assigned.

Benefits

• insurance and Teachers Retirement System (TRS) retirement benefits
• paid vacation, sick and holiday time off
• access to employee professional development and wellness services
• the opportunity to qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) federal program

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees