Post Doctoral Fellow, Stem Cell Lab; IPSC

Job
Employee Type: nonexempt full-time
Division:
Laboratory Animal Science Program
Facility:
Frederick:
Ft Detrick

Location:

PO Box B, Frederick, MD 21702 USA
The Frederick National Laboratory is operated by Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. The lab addresses some of the most urgent and intractable problems in the biomedical sciences in cancer and AIDS, drug development and first-in-human clinical trials, applications of nanotechnology in medicine, and rapid response to emerging threats of infectious diseases.

The Laboratory & Animal Sciences Program (LASP) provides exceptional quality animal care and technical support services for laboratory and animal research performed at the National Cancer Institute at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research. LASP executes this mission by providing a broad spectrum of husbandry, veterinary, state-of-the-art technology, and pre-clinical scientific services. LASP also provides primary support to the NIH Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Initiative to address the need for validated, scalable, and reproducible organoid-based Novel Alternative Methods (NAMs) in biomedical research.

Our team provides technical infrastructure, operational integration, and specialized expertise to drive the development and optimization of organoid models of normal (non-cancerous) human tissues derived from a wide range of tissue types and donor sources.

The Post Doctoral Fellow position in the Stem Cell Lab (IPSC) within the SOM Center will:

• Design and independently conduct innovative research investigating the metabolic regulation of human stem cell fate, lineage specification, differentiation, and tissue maturation using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived models.
• Develop, optimize, and characterize human iPSC reprogramming, maintenance, genome editing, directed differentiation, and organoid culture systems for applications in regenerative medicine and disease modeling.
• Design and implement metabolic profiling approaches, including mitochondrial functional assays, extracellular flux analysis, metabolomics, stable isotope tracing, and complementary molecular and cellular approaches to define mechanisms regulating stem cell biology.
• Integrate transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, imaging, and functional datasets to identify pathways governing stem cell fate and tissue maturation.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary investigators across the NIH Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Initiative to develop reproducible, scalable, and physiologically relevant stem cell and organoid platforms.
• Publish research findings in peer-reviewed journals and present results at national and international scientific meetings.
• Contribute to grant applications, technical reports, manuscripts, and collaborative research initiatives.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of new experimental approaches and technologies that advance the mission of the Stem Cell Laboratory and the SOM Initiative.

To be considered for this position, you must minimally meet the knowledge, skills, and abilities listed below:

• Possession of a doctorate degree from an accredited college or university according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Foreign degrees must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency.
• No work experience required with a Doctorate degree.
• Experience in mammalian cell culture and aseptic technique.
• Demonstrated experience designing and independently executing scientific research projects.
• Experience with molecular and cellular biology techniques.
• Evidence of scientific productivity through peer-reviewed publications.
• Must possess basic Microsoft Office skills.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Candidates with these desired skills will be given preferential consideration:

• Experience with human iPSC reprogramming, culture, characterization, genome editing, and directed differentiation.
• Experience with organoid culture and advanced 3D cell culture systems.
• Research experience in stem cell metabolism, mitochondrial biology, bioenergetics, or metabolic regulation of cell fate.
• Experience with Seahorse extracellular flux analysis, metabolomics, stable isotope tracing, mitochondrial functional assays, or other metabolic phenotyping approaches.
• Experience with CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering.
• Experience with single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, epigenomics, or other multi-omics approaches.
• Experience with computational analysis of transcriptomic or metabolomic datasets (R, Python, or similar).
• Experience with advanced microscopy, flow cytometry, or high-content imaging.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively within multidisciplinary collaborative research teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• This position is subject to working with or has the potential for…