Post-Doc Research Associate; Liu Lab

Job Title

Post-Doc Research Associate (Liu Lab)

$62,232 - $67,824 dependent on experience.

Genetics - 423501

10/16/2025

Yes

Postdoctoral Scholar (Full‑Time Temporary, 40 hrs/week, 1 FTE).

Chapel Hill, NC, North Carolina, US

12/01/2025

12 months

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation’s top public universities and is among the top ten research universities in the nation for federal research expenditures as well as for federally funded social and behavioral sciences research and development. Here at Carolina, our highly skilled postdocs play a vital role in our research enterprise and towards our overall commitment to research excellence.

Across many disciplines, postdocs contribute to the intellectual vitality of the University. They provide innovative ideas and perspectives, foster a stimulating research environment and advance knowledge within their fields. Postdocs are crucial members of our scientific research workforce, contributors to our research outputs and an important reason why Carolina is one of the leading public research institutions in the country.

UNC‑Chapel Hill offers postdocs comprehensive medical and vision coverage, paid leave, and benefits and services that support professional development and a healthy work/life balance. Chapel Hill regularly ranks as one of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States.

Our mission is to improve the health and well‑being of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education and research. Patient care:
We promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.

Education:

We prepare tomorrow‘s healthcare professionals and biomedical researchers from all backgrounds by facilitating learning within innovative and integrated curricula and team‑oriented interprofessional education to ensure a highly skilled workforce. Research:
We develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers and resources.

The Liu Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate to investigate the evolutionary mechanisms that shape the pathogenicity and drug resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). This position will focus on identifying the genetic determinants that drive bacterial adaptation to the host environment and contribute to antimicrobial resistance and persistence during infection.

The successful candidate will leverage large-scale longitudinal clinical cohorts and bacterial isolate collections obtained through collaborations. The research will involve developing and applying novel population‑genomic and statistical frameworks to detect non‑canonical forms of natural selection, adaptive convergence, and bacterial traits associated with transmission, virulence, and treatment outcomes. This position will require integration of multi‑dimensional datasets including genomic, transcriptomic, phenotypic, and clinical metadata to elucidate how bacterial evolution influences disease progression and therapeutic response.

The postdoc will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with computational biologists, microbiologists, and clinicians, and to contribute to the design of follow‑up functional validation experiments.

Ph.D. in microbiology, genetics, computational biology, or a related field.

Ph.D. or all but dissertation for Ph.D.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in microbial genomics, evolutionary biology, bioinformatics, or computational biology, with an interest in translational applications that connect bacterial evolution to clinical impact. Experience in bacterial genomics or evolution is preferred.

For information on UNC Postdoctoral Benefits and Services .