Postdoctoral Associate - Briney Lab - Immunology and Microbiology

ABOUT US

Scripps Research is a nonprofit biomedical institute ranked as one of the most influential in the world for its impact on innovation. We celebrated our 100‑year legacy in 2024. This significant milestone marks a century of seminal discoveries in immunology, infectious diseases (such as COVID‑19, flu, HIV), neuroscience, heart disease, cancer, and more. Located in La Jolla, California, the institute houses six research departments, multiple Nobel laureates, a top‑ranked graduate school and a leading postdoctoral training program.

Scripps Research encompasses two elite and highly innovative institutes, the Cali ‑Skaggs Institute for Innovative Medicines and Scripps Research Translational Institute, which merge foundational studies in biology, chemistry and computer science with translational science to produce pioneering drugs and advances in digital and precision medicine. Together, we cultivate new scientific leaders and expand the frontiers of knowledge to deliver medical breakthroughs impacting human health around the globe.

If you have a passion for making a difference, this could be your opportunity to join our transformative team.

Postdoctoral Associate

The Briney Lab is seeking a Postdoctoral Associate to join us in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at Scripps Research. We use a combination of advanced single‑cell multi‑omics techniques and sophisticated computational tools to deeply explore the antibody response to emerging infectious diseases. We are looking for a highly motivated individual who will contribute to antibody discovery projects against a variety of viral targets, including Lassa, Ebola, HIV, SARS‑CoV‑2, influenza and others.

The antibodies we discover have potential use as therapeutics or as templates for rational vaccine development.

Because we tightly integrate wet‑lab experimentation and bioinformatics into all of our projects, a substantial portion of your time will be spent using and developing computational tools for analyzing vast single‑cell multi‑omics datasets. Programming experience is a major plus (we primarily use Python), but don’t worry if you’re new to programming – we’re happy to teach you! Skilled experimental immunologists with an interest in computational immunology are always welcome.

We work with several pathogens that are typically found only in West and Central Africa, so members from our group regularly travel to Sierra Leone to collect and process samples, bring equipment and reagents, and train local scientists. Although travel to Africa is completely optional, it’s a fantastic opportunity to work alongside the people most affected by the hemorrhagic fever viruses we study, and it’s a life‑changing trip!

• Create novel single‑cell B multi‑omics techniques, both experimental and computational
• Lead the discovery and functional evaluation of large numbers of pathogen‑specific monoclonal antibodies
• Perform next‑generation sequencing experiments using Illumina and Oxford Nanopore systems
• Generate and analyze extremely large multi‑omics datasets of humoral immune responses to infection and/or vaccination
• Present work at lab meetings and contribute to peer‑reviewed publications
• Work closely with other Briney Lab members and our collaborators

• PhD in immunology, genetics, biology or related discipline is required
• We are a highly collaborative group and members of several scientific consortia, so the ability to work productively with our collaborative partners is essential
• Strong background in immunology, specifically immunogenetics of adaptive immune receptor repertoires, is strongly preferred
• Experience programming in Python is preferred but not required
• FACS experience is preferred but not required
• Demonstrated…