PostDoctoral Position : Image-Based Drug Screening Against Bacterial Pathogens

EPFL; Vaud; On-site; CHF 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary (EPFL postdoc scale

Job summary

EPFL seeks a postdoctoral scientist in Lausanne to build a new image-based drug screening platform targeting gram-negative pathogens. You will combine live imaging with tissue-engineered infection models to identify compounds active against priority pathogens.

The role requires a PhD in microbiology/biophysics/bioengineering and hands-on quantitative microscopy, plus experience with Python and AI-enabled image analysis. Collaboration across microbiology and drug discovery is essential.

Qualifications

• PhD in microbiology, biophysics, bioengineering, or a related field with at least one first-author publication.
• Hands-on experience with quantitative microscopy (live-cell imaging, high-content screening, or single-cell imaging).
• Experience with image analysis pipelines; scripting in Python; ML-based analysis is a plus but not required.

Responsibilities

• Design and build a microscopy-based phenotypic screening pipeline (live imaging, high-content, single-cell) to assay compound activity.
• Develop imaging assays capable of distinguishing mechanism of action (growth inhibition, biofilm disruption, membrane integrity).
• Develop or adapt image analysis and quantification pipelines with AI support for screen-scale data.
• Follow up on screening hits to identify molecular targets or mechanisms with team support.
• Collaborate with discovery and design efforts to feed targets and hits back into upstream design.
• Apply pipeline to screens in standard culture and organoid/tissue-engineered infection models.
• Co-supervise PhD students and contribute to method development, data management, and grant reporting.

Skills

Quantitative microscopy

Python scripting

ML-based image analysis

Education

PhD in microbiology/biophysics/bioengineering (completed or near completion)

Job description

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EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide. The EPFL employs more than 6,500 people supporting the three main missions of the institutions: education, research and innovation. The EPFL campus offers an exceptional working environment at the heart of a community of more than 18,500 people, including over 14,000 students and 4,000 researchers from more than 120 different countries.

PostDoctoral Position : Image-Based Drug Screening Against Bacterial Pathogens

Mission

A postdoctoral position is available in the laboratory of Prof. Alex Persat (EPFL School of Life Sciences, https://www.p-lab.science/ ) to establish a new image-based drug screening platform targeting gram-negative pathogens (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The project will combine single-cell/single-bacterium imaging approaches with the lab's tissue-engineered infection models to identify and characterize compounds active against these priority pathogens.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Design and build a microscopy-based phenotypic screening pipeline (live imaging, high-content, single-cell resolution) to assay compound activity


• Develop imaging assays capable of distinguishing mechanism of action (e.g. growth inhibition, biofilm/attachment disruption, membrane integrity)


• Develop or adapt image analysis and quantification pipelines with AI support to handle screen-scale data


• Follow up on screening hits to identify their molecular target or mechanism of action (e.g. via genetic, chemical-biology, or biophysical approaches), with support from other lab members' expertise in microbiology and drug discovery


• Collaborate with the lab's discovery and design efforts (natural products, AI-enabled molecular design) to feed prioritized targets and hits back into upstream design


• Apply the pipeline to screens in both standard culture and, in collaboration with other lab members, the group's organoid/tissue-engineered infection models (airway, gut) to prioritize physiologically relevant hits


• Co-supervise PhD students and contribute to method development, data management, and grant reporting

Profile

• PhD in microbiology, biophysics, bioengineering, or a related field (completed or near completion) with at least a first author publication.


• Hands-on experience with quantitative microscopy (live-cell imaging, high-content screening, or single-cell/single-bacterium imaging)


• Comfort with image analysis pipelines and scripting (Python), experience integrating ML-based image analysis is a plus but not required


• Interest in working across the interface of imaging, microbiology, and drug discovery

We offer

• The opportunity to build a new screening platform from the ground up, with significant ownership over pipeline design


• Access to the lab's existing imaging/biophysics infrastructure and tissue-engineered infection model systems


• Integration within the NCCR AntiResist consortium, with access to a broad network of AMR-focused groups across Switzerland


• Competitive salary (see EPFL postdoc salary scale)


• Support for independent fellowship applications (EMBO, HFSP, MSCA) where relevant