Post Doctoral Fellow - SOM Cardiac Lab

Employee Type: exempt 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.

Accountability, Compassion, Collaboration, Dedication, Integrity and Versatility; it's the FNL way.

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 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 Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Initiative is seeking a highly motivated and innovative Postdoctoral Fellow to join the Cardiac Tissue Engineering Laboratory, directed by Dr. Aitor Aguirre. The SOM Initiative aims to transform the use of human organoid technologies in biomedical research by establishing validated, scalable, and reproducible organoid-based models. The initiative focuses on developing physiologically relevant models of normal human tissues that can serve as standardized platforms for biological discovery, disease modeling, and translational research.

The successful candidate will contribute to the development and characterization of next-generation human cardiac organoids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Our research combines stem cell biology, cardiac developmental biology, bioengineering, and advanced functional phenotyping to generate multicellular cardiac tissues that recapitulate key features of the human heart. We will place major emphasis on developing robust, reproducible methods for cardiac organoid generation and establishing quantitative benchmarks for organoid identity, quality, maturation, and function across multiple donor-derived iPSC lines.

The SOM Cardiac Tissue Engineering Laboratory offers a dynamic, interdisciplinary environment dedicated to advancing human organoid technologies and biomedical innovation. The successful candidate will contribute to pioneering research, develop cutting-edge technologies, establish standards for cardiac organoids, and generate high-impact scientific work. We seek highly motivated, creative, and collaborative individuals passionate about breakthrough science and advancing human disease modeling, drug discovery, and translational research.

The Post Doctoral Fellow position in the Cardiac Lab within the Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Center will be responsible for:

• Protocol development, quality control and optimization for cardiac organoids, emphasizing reproducibility, scalability, physiological relevance, and maturation.
• Organoid Characterization:
  Investigate cardiac organoid development, cellular composition, structural organization, and physiological function using advanced microscopy, molecular biology, transcriptomics, and functional assays.
• Multicellular interactions, disease modeling, and tissue architecture.
• Reproducibility and Variability:
  Systematically evaluate inter-donor, inter-line, and inter-batch variability to identify critical determinants of organoid quality.
• Technology Development and Automation:
  Collaborate with other SOM teams to develop scalable imaging, high-content screening, automated experimental workflows.
• Data Integration and Computational Analysis:
  Work with multidisciplinary teams to integrate imaging, electrophysiological, and molecular datasets using advanced computational approaches, including AI/ML, to support standardized…