Post-doctoral research

Postdoctoral Researcher in Prostate Cancer Genomics at Ohio State University

An exciting opportunity is available immediately to work on the genomics and epigenomics of prostate cancer in the lab of Dr. Moray J Campbell at The Ohio State University (OSU). The major focus of the Campbell lab is to define how epigenomic mechanisms distort the transcriptome in hormone-dependent cancers.

The overall goal of the current post is to define the biological basis for the health disparities associated with African American prostate cancer, and to exploit this understanding in more accurate diagnosis and therapeutic targeting.  More specifically, the project will apply integrated genomic approaches to study the cancer epigenome in European American and African American prostate cell systems and clinical samples, from a translational perspective, by leveraging understanding from wet and dry lab approaches. 

In preliminary studies we have focussed on the vitamin D receptor (VDR), a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily, and undertaken VDR ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq in European and African American prostate cell models. These analyses, combined with analyses of clinical samples, lend strong evidence to the concept that VDR signaling is a significantly distorted in African American prostate cancer due to altered interactions with chromatin remodeling complexes. We therefore propose to study how altered VDR interactions impact key transcriptional programs and cell fate decisions in cancer progression.

The project has arisen from a long-standing collaboration between investigators at OSU and Tuskegee University, and is funded by the Prostate Cancer Health Disparities program of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. The post is available immediately. 

The successful applicant will have experience in standard cell and molecular biology techniques, ideally with chromatin biology experience, and familiarity with undertaking ChIP-Seq and similar NGS approaches. There is no need to be able to undertake bioinformatic analyses of these data, as these are well-supported in the Campbell lab. The ideal candidate may have an interest in the computational analyses of such data, and enthusiasm to begin to learn such approaches.

A Ph.D. in a relevant field is required. Interested individuals should email the following documents to Campbell.1933@osu.edu

• a curriculum vitae, 
• contact names of three referees, 
• a 1-page personal statement of background and interests.  

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.