Postdoctoral Research Associate - Developmental Neurobiology

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

11d • Onsite

About The Position

A postdoctoral research associate position is available with Dr. Xinwei Cao in the Department of Developmental Neurobiology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The project investigates how transcriptional regulatory networks establish and maintain neural identity during brain development by activating appropriate neural gene programs and repressing alternative lineage programs. It combines mouse genetic models, genome-wide profiling, and mechanistic assays to examine how transcriptional regulators engage cofactors and select cis-regulatory elements to control gene expression in neural progenitors. The research may reveal principles of cell fate specification and inform understanding of lineage infidelity in diseases such as cancer.

The postdoctoral fellow will take intellectual ownership of a defined project with regular guidance, constructive feedback, and personalized mentoring. The role includes training in experimental, analytical, and scientific communication skills, opportunities to present research internally and externally, and participation in grant writing and career development activities. The lab is part of collaborative networks in developmental neurobiology, genomics, imaging, and computational biology, with access to institutional core resources.

Requirements

• PhD in biology or a related field.
• Hands-on experience with standard molecular biology techniques, such as molecular cloning.
• Ability to perform experiments consistently and rigorously.
• Ability to design experiments rationally and analyze data critically.
• Clear scientific communication skills, including writing, figure preparation, and presentations.
• Strong collaboration skills.

Nice To Haves

• Strong background in developmental neurobiology and/or gene regulation.
• Experience in biochemistry and molecular biology, including protein–protein and protein–DNA interactions.
• Computational analysis of sequencing data using R, Python, or established pipelines.
• Strong publication record.

Responsibilities

• Perform and troubleshoot genomics assays, including bulk RNA-seq, CUT&RUN, ATAC-seq, and single-cell RNA-seq, and integrate datasets to identify regulatory mechanisms and key targets.
• Conduct in vivo and ex vivo functional studies, including viral delivery and electroporation perturbation experiments, and quantitative histological and molecular phenotyping.
• Develop and apply in vitro mechanistic assays to study transcription factor interactions and transcription factor–DNA interactions.
• Maintain rigorous documentation and reproducible analysis workflows.
• Contribute to manuscripts, presentations, and grant-related writing.
• Participate in team science in the lab and with collaborators in areas such as computational biology, bioinformatics, and gene regulation.
• Present research internally and externally and participate in grant writing and career development activities.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits.
• Generous relocation assistance.
• Professional development allowance.
• Access to grant writing workshops, individual development plans, teaching and mentoring opportunities, and non-research career advancement programs.
• Access to shared resources and facilities led by expert scientists.

What This Job Offers

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