Postdoctoral Associate

School of Medicine Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine is the youngest of the nation's top medical schools. Ranked sixth among medical schools in the nation, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe.

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The Boyce Laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry at Duke University seeks a talented, motivated, and collegial postdoctoral fellow to join a newly funded NINDS R01 project investigating how O-GlcNAc glycosylation regulates KLHL-family E3 ubiquitin ligases (gigaxonin, KLHL3) and their substrates (neurofilaments, WNK kinases) in neuronal proteostasis, cytoskeletal dynamics, and ferroptotic cell death. This collaborative work combines biochemistry, chemical biology, cell signaling, live-cell imaging, and organotypic brain slice models to dissect the mechanistic links between intracellular glycosylation and neurodegeneration.

By mutual agreement with the PI, the exact portfolio within the larger project may be adjusted to suit the postdoc's background, interests, and professional goals.

We are looking for a candidate with a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral training in biochemistry, cell biology, neuroscience, or a related field, who is intellectually curious, works well independently and as part of a team, and is committed to rigorous, reproducible science. Research experience in cellular neurobiology and/or O-GlcNAc signaling or glycobiology more broadly is strongly preferred but not strictly required.

This position is onsite. The work is performed on-site or at a designated assignment location.

The successful candidate will have access to a rigorous, well‑funded, inclusive, and highly collaborative research environment with state‑of‑the‑art core facilities and opportunities to develop independent expertise across multiple experimental systems, from cell lines to primary neurons to ex vivo brain tissue. The postdoc will be encouraged to develop a unique scientific identity within the broader project, lead publications, present their work at national conferences, mentor junior researchers, and develop the skills and preliminary data needed for an independent research career in any sector.

Scientists with strong backgrounds in adjacent areas and a firm commitment to learning glycobiology approaches are also encouraged to apply.

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