Postdoctoral Research Associate - Computational Sciences
About The Position
The Abraham Lab at St. Jude seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate to study gene dysregulation, chromatin composition, and genome organization in pediatric cancers. This grant-funded position is part of an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional effort to understand how chromatin-modifying enzymes and complexes contribute to cancer-driving gene regulation and may serve as drug targets in pediatric solid tumors. The candidate will collaborate with chemists and molecular oncologists, including the Adam Durbin, Lily Guenther, and Jun Qi (DFCI) labs. The successful candidate will lead computationally focused research projects with increasing independence, collaborate on project and analysis design with multiple PIs, develop computational methods, and analyze data from sequencing technologies that interrogate gene-regulatory biology. Work includes identifying, processing, organizing, interpreting, reviewing, and reporting data; directing data collection; presenting research; and drafting complex manuscripts with minimal supervision. The candidate will also contribute to collaborative research within and beyond the lab and maintain regular, predictable attendance, including in-person meetings and presentations. The Abraham Lab develops software approaches and analytical pipelines for high-throughput sequencing data, including CUT&RUN, bulk, single-cell and spatial RNA-seq, HiChIP, and other single-cell omics. Its research focuses on enhancers and super-enhancers, gene-expression programs, regulatory circuitry, and how mutations or mis-targeting alter gene regulation in disease. St. Jude's Department of Computational Biology offers high-performance computing clusters, cloud computing, visualization tools, automated analytical pipelines, and faculty mentorship. First-author, high-profile publications are required to share discoveries. The initial appointment is for 1–2 years and may be renewed for up to a total of 5 years, depending on the candidate's goals and qualifications.
Requirements
- Doctoral degree (PhD, MD, or equivalent).
- Degree in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Computer Science, or a related field; quantitative and biologically oriented fields are especially encouraged.
- Track record of scientific productivity, such as a first-author paper or demonstrable contribution to a large project.
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills for collaborative research.
- Coding experience can strengthen applications from candidates with primarily wet-lab or clinical backgrounds.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in chromatin and expression analysis technologies.
- Experience with applied high-throughput sequencing analysis methods, including alignment, coverage quantification, differential coverage statistics, and multi-omic integration.
- Experience building, tailoring, and deploying analysis pipelines using genomic analysis toolkits such as bedtools, samtools, HiCPro, or Tuxedo tools.
- Experience managing many datasets and working on a well-supported high-performance compute cluster.
- Understanding of gene-expression mechanisms, such as transcription factors, enhancers, genome structure, and transcriptional condensates.
- Experience building clear, succinct figures using R.
Responsibilities
- Lead computationally focused scientific research projects with increasing independence over time.
- Collaborate on project and analysis design under the guidance of multiple invested PIs.
- Set personal task-level priorities across multiple interconnected projects.
- Develop new computational methods.
- Adhere to field and lab standards for data analysis.
- Identify, process, organize, interpret, review, and report relevant data.
- Direct data collection.
- Present research to colleagues within and outside the institution.
- Draft complex manuscripts with minimal supervision, as required.
- Perform other duties as assigned to meet department and institutional goals and objectives.
- Maintain regular and predictable attendance, especially in-person attendance at meetings and relevant presentations.
- Analyze data generated from second- and third-generation sequencing applications that interrogate gene-regulatory biology.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
