Postdoctoral Research Associate, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

Overview

The Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Sturek, MD, PhD. The Sturek Laboratory is an NIH‑funded group that focuses on translational pulmonary immunology and fibrosis. The laboratory utilizes human and patient samples to explore disease phenotypes and associations, as well as murine and in vitro model systems to test novel biological mechanisms.

Techniques of interest include high‑dimensional immunophenotyping via mass cytometry and spectral flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, imaging mass cytometry, and RNA sequencing. The disease areas of focus are fibrotic lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary graft‑vs‑host disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and respiratory infections.

The successful candidate will serve as a leader of laboratory projects, provide scientific and technical guidance on experimental design, conduct, and interpretation, and perform studies needed to advance the research program. This leadership position involves serving as the principal investigator’s scientific partner, managing the administrative, regulatory, and operational needs of the lab, and actively learning new techniques to bring to the lab.

The candidate will help teach trainees rotating in the laboratory, including pulmonary and critical care fellows, medicine residents, PhD candidates, medical students, and undergraduates. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required to facilitate the training mission and contribute to the preparation of research proposals and manuscripts. The candidate may pursue individual postdoctoral research fellowship funding if consistent with their career goals.

The specific focus of projects for this posting is related to the role of B cells and IgA in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and is supported by a newly awarded NIH R01.

• Ph.D. in the biosciences or an M.D. with a research emphasis is required at the time of hire.

• Experience with mouse models of pulmonary disease or murine or human immunology, flow cytometry, and histology.
• Experience with primary cell culture, functional analyses in vitro and in vivo, and characterization of molecular features of cells (DNA/RNA/Protein).
• Experience with retro‑ and lenti‑viral production and transduction, RNAi‑based strategies for post‑transcriptional regulation of gene expression, and CRISPR/Cas9 techniques.
• Experience or interest in modern high‑dimensional data analysis techniques such as mass cytometry, spectral flow, and RNA‑seq.

This is primarily a sedentary position involving extensive use of desktop computers. The role may occasionally require traveling some distance to attend meetings and programs.

Based in Charlottesville, VA, and must be performed fully on‑site.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. All interested persons are encouraged to apply, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Learn more about UVA’s commitment to non‑discrimination and equal opportunity employment.