Postdoctoral Associate - Engineered Cell Therapies

Summary

The Foight lab is seeking a motivated postdoctoral applicant to pursue research into the transcription factor networks that regulate immune cell function. Several projects are available that center on engineering new approaches to specifically and dynamically regulate transcription factors. Our goal will be to work towards a better understanding of the immune cell transcription factor networks and develop molecular interventions to create more efficacious and responsive cell therapies. Creative and motivated applicants will have flexibility to work with Dr. Foight to define the trajectory of their project.

The Foight lab is in the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). We do research at the intersection of protein engineering, mammalian synthetic biology, and cellular cancer immunotherapy. Our goal is to create new molecular interventions to improve the performance of engineered cell therapies for diverse cancer types. Our group is housed in shared lab and office space within CAGT, so we are surrounded by a supportive and interactive group of researchers from multiple clinical, basic, and translational research labs. BCM is in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, an unparalleled collection of hospitals and universities with a truly collaborative environment between basic and clinical researchers. We are also just a short walk away from Rice University's Bioengineering Department, which has many excellent synthetic biology research groups.

Ph.D. applicants with a strong immunology or cell biology background with an interest in applying molecular engineering and synthetic biology approaches to improve cellular cancer immunotherapies are preferred. We also welcome candidates with a protein engineering, protein design, or mammalian synthetic biology background with a strong interest in immunotherapy.

Job Duties

• Plans, directs, and conducts specialized and advanced research experiments.
• Evaluates and analyzes data.
• Summarizes research findings and publish results in research journals.
• Contributes to training of other lab members, when appropriate.
• Independently applies their previous training to new projects
• Takes responsibility for learning new techniques needed for their research
• Uses an electronic lab notebook to keep an up-to-date record of their work.
• Regularly presents their work in lab meetings.

Minimum Qualifications

• MD or Ph.D. in Basic Science, Health Science, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

Preferred Ph.D. fields: immunology, cell biology, bioengineering, biochemistry (but will consider others).

Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.