Post-Doctoral Research Fellow - Metastasis

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is an independent, nonprofit organization providing adult cancer treatment and groundbreaking research focused on cancer and infectious diseases. Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington.

With a track record of global leadership in bone marrow transplantation, HIV/AIDS prevention, immunotherapy and COVID-19 vaccines, Fred Hutch has earned a reputation as one of the world’s leading cancer, infectious disease and biomedical research centers. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services, and network affiliations with hospitals in five states.

Together, our fully integrated research and clinical care teams seek to discover new cures to the world’s deadliest diseases and make life beyond cancer a reality.

At Fred Hutch we value collaboration, compassion, determination, excellence, innovation, integrity and respect. Our mission is directly tied to the humanity, dignity and inherent value of each employee, patient, community member and supporter. Our commitment to learning across our differences and similarities make us stronger. We seek employees who bring different and innovative ways of seeing the world and solving problems.

The Simeonov Lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is recruiting a highly motivated Post‑Doctoral Research Fellow to join a new interdisciplinary group studying cancer evolution, metastasis, and therapy resistance using molecular recorders – tools that enable cells to log aspects of their own biology directly into their DNA.

The lab combines experimental and computational approaches to develop and apply barcode‑based lineage recording systems, single‑cell technologies, and perturbation tools to uncover the principles of tumor evolution at high‑resolution. Technologies, such as macs

GESTALT, along with next‑generation molecular recorders in development, enable the generation of massive‑scale, novel datasets that open new windows into cancer dynamics and allow us to address previously inaccessible questions (see example figure above).

We welcome candidates eager to harness or advance these tools to illuminate fundamental drivers of metastasis, drug resistance, and other key cancer outcomes. Projects will be tailored to the candidate’s strengths and interests, with multiple creative, high‑impact directions available. We value a collaborative, rigorous lab culture and are deeply committed to scientific growth. Applicants with hybrid wet and dry lab expertise are especially encouraged, as are those with deep skills in one domain who are motivated to expand into the other.

We also welcome purely computational applicants with interests in phylogenetics or advanced single‑cell analysis, as well as purely experimental applicants with strong backgrounds in synthetic biology or molecular tool development.

• Engineering and developing novel molecular recorder systems
• Designing and executing in vitro and in vivo experiments and generating single‑cell sequencing data
• Analyzing recorder outputs and high‑dimensional datasets to study cancer evolution
• Presenting and preparing results for publication

• PhD (or equivalent) in biology, bioengineering, computer science, physics, or a related field
• Strong scientific curiosity, motivation, and rigor
• Strong communication, organizational, and analytical skills

• Molecular/synthetic biology, single‑cell sequencing, or in vivo cancer models
• Evolving or static barcode‑based lineage tracing
• Computational analysis of high‑dimensional data (e.g., single‑cell RNA‑seq, phylogenetics, spatial data)
• Experience in R or Python

Please send a CV, a brief cover letter describing your research interests and career goals.

The annual base salary range for this position is from $80,172 to $95,014, and pay offered will be based on experience and qualifications.

This position is not eligible for H‑1B sponsorship at this time.