Three (3) Postdoctoral Positions, School of Medicine, University of Washington, U.S.A. (2016)

The Gu lab at the University of Washington School of Medicine seeks applications for up to three postdoctoral positions in image processing for in situ polony sequencing, next-generation sequencing for immune profiling, and protein barcoding technologies.

Description
Postdoctoral positions in protein barcoding and in situ DNA sequencing technologies for protein design at the University of Washington

The laboratory of Dr. Liangcai Gu in the Department of Biochemistry and the Institute for Protein Design (IPD) at the University of Washington School of Medicine invites applications for up to three postdoctoral positions in image processing for in situ polony sequencing, next-generation sequencing for immune profiling, and protein barcoding technologies. The positions are available immediately.

We use quantitative protein interaction profiling to understand molecular recognition and guide computational protein design. To fundamentally improve quality and cost-effectiveness of high-throughput protein analysis, we develop protein interaction sequencing technologies by coupling ‘protein barcoding’ techniques to in situ barcode (or polony) sequencing, a powerful extension of next-generation sequencing technologies. Proteins are barcoded by attaching them to a barcoding DNA via enzymatic conjugation or protein displays. In situ polony sequencing can directly measure protein interactions in massively parallel at a single-molecule or single-cell level. An example of protein interaction sequencing is a single-molecular-interaction sequencing (SMI-seq) technology we recently developed (Nature, 2014, 515, 554–557) for ‘library-by-library’ or ‘all-by-all’ interaction profiling. We apply SMI-seq and others to measure natural or synthetic protein interactions to explore the druggability of human protein interactomes and to develop molecule sensors, vaccines and therapeutic T cells. We collaborate with world-class laboratories on protein design and sequencing technologies at the University of Washington and other institutes. Postdocs will work in a highly interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment and can be under a joint supervision of Dr. Gu and another advisor(s) with complementary expertise and research interests. Postdocs jointly trained in IPD and any Seattle-area research institute (including the University of Washington) are also eligible to apply for a Washington Research Foundation (WRF)‒IPD Innovation Fellowship (http://www.ipd.uw.edu/fellows/).

Requirement:
Applicants should have a Ph.D. degree (or equivalent) in related fields including, but not limited to biochemistry, bioengineering, bioinformatics, biophysics, computer science and chemistry. Highly desirable backgrounds/skills include i) phage, ribosome, mRNA or other protein display techniques for protein engineering; ii) high-throughput image processing and analysis; iii) next-generation sequencing of immune repertoire; iv) strong programming skills in scripting language (Python or Perl), statistical and computing language (R or MATLAB), and/or programing language (C/C++ /Java).

Further details:
http://ec.europa.eu