Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Sethi Lab

The incoming fellow will join a highly collaborative program with substantial existing datasets, experimental systems, and senior scientific expertise. A planned period of overlap with experienced members of the laboratory will enable deep transfer of computational frameworks, biological knowledge, and experimental context, while providing substantial freedom to establish new questions and approaches.

Located in Boston and the surrounding communities, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a leader in life changing breakthroughs in cancer research and patient care. We are united in our mission of conquering cancer, HIV/AIDS, and related diseases. We strive to create an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment where we provide compassionate and comprehensive care to patients of all backgrounds, and design programs to promote public health particularly among high-risk and underserved populations.

We conduct groundbreaking research that advances treatment, we educate tomorrow's physician/researchers, and we work with amazing partners, including other Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals.

The Sethi Laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School is recruiting an exceptional postdoctoral fellow in computational cancer biology, single-cell genomics, epigenomics, and spatial biology to address these questions across gastrointestinal cancer evolution.

Our laboratory studies cell-state plasticity as a fundamental determinant of cancer initiation, progression, and therapeutic resistance. We combine human samples and patient-derived models with genetically engineered mouse models, organoids, functional genomics, epigenomics, and computational biology to understand:

• how aberrant developmental and oncofetal cell states are established during premalignant cancer initiation;
• how metabolic and environmental exposures create durable epigenetic memories that alter future cancer
• behavior; and
• how established cancers exploit cellular plasticity to evade targeted therapies.

Our recent work has identified a durable epithelial memory of high-fat-diet exposure, published in Science; characterized therapy-associated polyposis and human premalignant disease models in JCI; demonstrated that differentiation can be therapeutically induced in colorectal cancer in Gastroenterology; and defined mechanisms through which SOX9 and chromatin-remodeling machinery establish tumor-promoting cell states.

The fellow will be expected to independently formulate questions, develop and execute computational analyses, collaborate closely with experimental scientists, interpret complex genomic datasets, present findings internally and externally, contribute to manuscripts and grant applications, and mentor junior trainees.

We seek an unusually strong and intellectually curious scientist with a Ph.D., M.D., or M.D./Ph.D.

Preferred expertise in quantitative or computational biology. Particularly relevant backgrounds include the following or related disciplines:

• computational biology
• bioinformatics
• genomics
• statistics
• computer science
• systems biology
• cancer biology

Strong candidates will have experience with one or more of the following:

• single-cell RNA-seq and/or single-cell ATAC-seq
• epigenomic analysis and chromatin biology
• spatial transcriptomics or other spatial-omics approaches
• multimodal data integration
• computational analysis of longitudinal or perturbational experiments

At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we work every day to create an innovative, caring, and inclusive environment where every patient, family, and staff member feels they belong. As relentless as we are in our mission to reduce the burden of cancer for all, we are committed to having faculty and staff who offer multifaceted experiences. Cancer knows no boundaries and when it comes to hiring the most dedicated and compassionate professionals, neither do we.

If working in this kind of organization inspires you, we encourage you to apply.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is an equal opportunity employer and affirms the right of every qualified applicant to receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, ancestry, military service, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.

Pay Transparency Statement

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