Postdoctoral Research Associate - David Solecki lab

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital • Memphis, TN

96d • Onsite

About The Position

The Solecki Lab seeks postdoctoral fellows to develop and use imaging-based biosensor platforms that make chromatin states and cell-polarity decisions visible and experimentally testable in living neurons. Fellows will lead independent research projects investigating how intracellular state transitions are organized as neurons mature and assemble into brain circuits.

Researchers will use live-cell biosensors, advanced microscopy, neuronal differentiation systems, acute perturbations, and quantitative image analysis. They will also help develop new probes, assays, imaging strategies, and perturbation methods to make cell-biological processes visible, measurable, and testable mechanistically. Fellows can define a major project within the lab’s work on neuronal maturation, chromatin-state dynamics, polarity transitions, nuclear organization, and circuit assembly.

Fellows will work with the PI and an interdisciplinary team on high-risk, high-reward experiments, with opportunities to publish first-author research and present at national and international meetings. The lab includes biophysicists, optics experts, data scientists, cell biologists, and developmental neurobiologists, and offers exposure to technologies such as lattice light-sheet and super-resolution imaging platforms and data science core labs.

Requirements

• PhD in cell biology, biophysics, gene regulation, neuroscience, or a related discipline.
• Prior experience in live-cell imaging, super-resolution microscopy, and/or imaging probe development.
• Familiarity with programming languages such as R or Python for data analysis.
• Strong record of peer-reviewed publications.
• Ability to independently design and execute experiments and interpret data.
• Ability to prepare, validate, document, and troubleshoot experiments effectively.

Responsibilities

• Conduct an independent research project on cell-biological transitions in developing neurons.
• Use live-cell biosensors, advanced microscopy, neuronal differentiation systems, acute perturbations, and quantitative image analysis.
• Help develop experimental approaches, including probes, assays, imaging strategies, and perturbation methods.
• Design and execute experiments, interpret data, and prepare, validate, document, and troubleshoot experiments.
• Collaborate with the PI and an interdisciplinary team on research into neuronal maturation, chromatin-state dynamics, polarity transitions, nuclear organization, and circuit assembly.
• Generate first-author publications and present research at national and international meetings.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree