IRTA Postdoctoral Fellow

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), Bethesda, MD and surrounding area

Scientific focus area

Chemical Biology,Structural Biology,Developmental Biology,Microbiology and Infectious Diseases,Molecular Biology and Biochemistry

The Samara Lab at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) at the NIH is seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join our group. We integrate in vitro biochemical and structural methods with in cellulo models and patient data to study the functions of glycosyltransferases and the glycans they produce, and understand how their dysregulation impacts human health.

The NIH offers unique opportunities to collaborate with people from various fields, including clinicians, and use in vivo and patient data to stimulate research questions. The Samara Lab is looking to support a motivated, creative, independent junior researcher who can lead their own project within the mission of the lab.

Currently, one project in the lab is to understand how a family of enzymes called GalNAc-Ts, which initiate the first step in mucin-type O-glycosylation, recognize and modify their substrates. Our lab has made major advances in studying their substrate specificifies (Collette et al. Sci. Adv. 2024, Samara, Glycobiology 2025), their mechanism of glycosylation in protozoan pathogens (Kumar et al. Nat. Comm.

2024), and how they modulate development and drive disease (Fernandez et al. Nat. Comm. 2019, Kumar et al. Comm. Biol. 2026, Zhang et al. PNAS 2026).

A second project in the lab centers on bacterial O-glycosyltransferases that synthesize polysaccharide based virulence factors such as capsular polysaccharide (CPS), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and exopolysaccharides (EPS) in the oral biofilm. Understanding how bacterial glycosyltransferases synthesize glycan structures at atomic resolution will provide insight into targeting and inhibiting these enzymes in the treatment of bacterial infections in the oral cavity.

We are seeking a highly motivated candidate with a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences and less than 1 year of postdoctoral experience. The candidate should have strong verbal and writing skills, and experience in structural biology and biochemistry. Knowledge and experience in the purification and structural biology of membrane proteins is a plus. Salary is commensurate with research experience and accomplishments.

NIH welcomes foreign nationals with the exception of individuals from this list .