Postdoctoral Research Associate: Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Genome Sciences

The Position

The Yang Lab (PI: Yaohua Yang, PhD) in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine is recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Associate in genetic and molecular epidemiology. The lab identifies genetic and molecular determinants of cancer risk and prognosis and investigates how interactions between the commensal microbiome and the host shape cancer development, through integrative analysis of multi-level omics data (lab page).

The Yang Lab (PI: Yaohua Yang, PhD) in the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine is recruiting a Postdoctoral Research Associate in genetic and molecular epidemiology. The lab identifies genetic and molecular determinants of cancer risk and prognosis and investigates how interactions between the commensal microbiome and the host shape cancer development, through integrative analysis of multi-level omics data (lab page).

The position is supported by an NCI R37 (MERIT) award investigating N6-methyladenosine (m6A) RNA modification in lung cancer, integrating epitranscriptomic profiling of human lung tissues with population-scale genetic and multi-omics data and functional validation. The project spans discovery, mechanism, and translation, and offers an unusually complete training arc for someone who wants to work at the interface of population genomics and cancer biology.

The postdoc will be co-mentored by Dr. Kexin Xu, Professor of Genome Sciences, whose laboratory specializes in m6A biology in cancer, and will have the opportunity to receive training from Dr. Jianjun Chen, Chair of Systems Biology at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, a world-leading m6A biologist. This paired mentorship gives the postdoc direct access to expertise in both population-level genomics and cancer epitranscriptomic biology.

A candidate trained on either side of that divide will have a genuine home in the other.

This Is a Lab, Not a Single Project. Beyond The Primary Aim, Several Funded And Developing Directions Are Open To The Postdoc To Contribute To Or Lead, According To Their Own Interests And Ambitions

• Integrating genetic with bulk and single-cell multi-omics data to identify biomarkers for complex diseases
• Investigating the impact of the commensal microbiome on the host epigenome and transcriptome
• Multi-omics analysis of the lower airway microbiome in lung cancer prognosis
• Proteogenomic approaches to identifying causal proteins and repurposable drugs for chronic lung disease

The lab actively supports postdocs in developing independent research directions and in applying for intramural and extramural funding, including NIH K awards, with the explicit goal of building a competitive record for the faculty job market.

The successful candidate will receive comprehensive, individualized training in genetic and molecular epidemiology, statistical genetics, bioinformatics, and computational biology, complemented by co-mentorship in cancer molecular biology. Training is tailored to the candidate's starting point rather than assumed.

The lab is supported by NCI K99/R00 and R37 (MERIT) awards and UVA startup funds.

The lab treats large language models and AI coding agents as standard research infrastructure, on the same footing as the compute cluster or a statistical package. Fluency with these tools is part of the training you will receive here, and it is a skill the lab expects