Postdoctoral Scholar - Cell and Biological Systems

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This is a term position; length of the term will be discussed during the interview process. Continuation past the termlengthdiscussed willbebasedonuniversityneed,performance,and/oravailabilityoffunding.

The College of Medicine, Department of Cell and Biological Systems is seeking a postdoctoral scholar position in Dr. Shengyu Yang's lab in Hershey, PA to study the role of mitochondrial metabolism and metabolic stress signaling in cancer metastasis. Our goal is to reveal how the mitochondrial metabolism and nutrient stress controls metastatic progression through epigenetic remodeling.

This project is built on our recent discoveries that the actin cytoskeleton remodeling in metastatic cancer cells is able to control mitochondrial metabolism through regulating the homeostasis of mtDNA and the biogenesis of mitochondrial respiratory chain. Please see our publications for more information (Li et al, 2026, Nature Communications, PMID: ;
Wang et al, 2022, Cancer Res, PMID: ; Lin et al, 2019, Cell Reports, PMID: ; Lin et al, 2019, EMBO Mol Med, PMID: , ). Biochemistry, cell biology, genetically engineered mouse models and patient-derived organoids / xenografts will be employed in the study.

Successful applicants will be a highly motivated individual with a Ph.D. or equivalent degree and will have expertise in biochemistry, molecular biology, cancer metabolism or related fields.

Experience with genetically engineered mouse models and Next Generation Sequencing data analysis will be desirable but not required.

Individuals will benefit from trainings in orthotopic lung cancer and/or pancreatic cancer metastasis models, metabolomics/lipidomics, metabolic flux analysis and genetically-engineered cancer mouse models. There are also training opportunities in improving grant and manuscript writing skills, teaching, mentoring and presentation.

The research in Dr. Yang's lab is funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging and Department of Defense. Penn State College of Medicine Campus is located in Hershey, PA. Hershey is a quiet, family friendly town with affordable living expense and easy access to major metropolitan areas (e.g. Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York City).

This position requires the following clearances in addition to applicable background checks: PA State Police Criminal Background Check, PA Child Abuse History Clearance Form, and Federal (FBI) Fingerprint Criminal Background Check.

• Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being.

For more detailed information, please visit our Benefits Page. (

Note:

For Postdoctoral benefits, please see our Postdoctoral Benefits page.)

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