Postdoctoral Fellow

The Watson Lab at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is seeking a motivated postdoctoral fellow to investigate how mitochondrial homeostasis shapes macrophage immune responses and the outcome of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Department Medicine:
Infectious Disease

The Watson Lab at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is seeking a motivated postdoctoral fellow to investigate how mitochondrial homeostasis shapes macrophage immune responses and the outcome of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Our work examines the host-pathogen interface at the point where bacterial virulence, mitochondrial function, and inflammatory signaling converge. We are particularly interested in how M. tuberculosis access to the host-cell cytosol disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis and how these changes alter macrophage metabolism, cell-intrinsic defense pathways, inflammation, and bacterial pathogenesis. Our studies combine primary macrophage and mouse infection models with cell biology, immunology, bacterial genetics, biochemistry, and systems-level approaches.

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to develop an independent, interdisciplinary project focused on questions such as:

• How do mitochondrial stress and metabolic remodeling regulate macrophage activation during intracellular bacterial infection?
• How does mitochondrial dysfunction influence inflammatory signaling, innate immune cell death pathways, and antimicrobial control?
• Which host pathways connect M. tuberculosis cytosolic access with altered mitochondrial homeostasis?
• How do inherited or experimentally induced defects in mitochondrial maintenance affect susceptibility to infection and immunopathology ex vivo and in vivo?
• Can mitochondrial pathways be leveraged as host-directed therapeutic targets to improve infection outcomes?

The Watson Lab is jointly led with the Patrick Lab, which investigates RNA-binding proteins and post-transcriptional regulation of innate immune gene expression in macrophages. This collaborative environment offers opportunities to integrate mitochondrial biology with RNA regulation, host-pathogen interactions, and advanced infection models.

We welcome applicants with a PhD and a strong interest in macrophage biology, immunometabolism, mitochondrial biology, microbial pathogenesis, or related fields. Experience in molecular/cellular biology, immunology, bacterial infection models, mouse studies, genomics, or quantitative systems biology is desirable but not required.