Postdoctoral Position in Immunology

National Jewish Health; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 52,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

National Jewish Health invites applications for a postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Dr. Magdalena Gorska in Denver, Colorado.

The project investigates non-genetic inheritance of allergic diseases using mouse models to connect maternal environmental exposures with offspring susceptibility, with emphasis on immune cells and potential early-life biomarkers. The successful candidate will have a PhD and/or MD in immunology or a related field, and experience with transcriptomics or

Qualifications

• Experience in analyzing large-scale transcriptomics and epigenomics data is desirable but not required.

Skills

Transcriptomics data analysis

Epigenomics data analysis

Education

PhD or MD

Job description

The Laboratory

A postdoctoral position is available in the laboratory of Dr. Magdalena Gorska (https://www.nationaljewish.org/gorska-lab) at National Jewish Health, Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, in Denver, Colorado, USA.

The Gorska lab studies non-genetic inheritance of allergic diseases.

Non-genetic inheritance is the transmission of traits from parents to offspring through mechanisms that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence. Parental environmental exposures are key drivers of non-genetic inheritance. Non-genetic inheritance of environmental information is postulated to influence allergic diseases. Parental environmental exposures may either increase offspring susceptibility to allergic diseases or promote disease resistance. For example, childhood allergic diseases are positively associated with maternal exposure to air pollutants and negatively associated with maternal exposure to the farming environment.

Our lab develops mouse models to establish causal links between maternal environmental exposures and allergic diseases in offspring and investigates the mechanisms underlying the transmission of environmental information from mothers to offspring.

The goals of our lab are to define the biological and molecular nature of the information transmitted to offspring; elucidate the routes of information transfer, including through the placenta, breast milk, or gametes; identify the offspring cells that receive maternal information; characterize the associated epigenetic alterations; and determine how these cells and alterations contribute to the development of allergies and asthma. The lab has a particular interest in cells of the immune system.

Our translational goals are to identify early-life biomarkers of susceptibility to allergies and asthma in humans and to define molecular targets for the development of allergy/asthma-preventive therapies. For this translational work, the lab uses blood samples from young children with allergies and asthma.

To address both basic science and translational research questions, our lab employs a broad range of immunological, molecular, epigenetic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic approaches.

The Institute

National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the United States and a premier academic center renowned for its scientific expertise in immunology, allergy, and lung diseases. The institution has contributed to numerous seminal scientific advances, including the discovery of IgE; the characterization of the T cell receptor (TCR) and its interactions with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules; the discovery of superantigens and the immunological synapse; and the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying B cell anergy, innate lymphocyte memory, and apoptotic cell clearance by phagocytes.

Applicant Qualifications

PhD and/or MD, background in immunology, developmental biology, cell and molecular biology or related fields. Experience in analyzing large-scale transcriptomics and epigenomics data is desirable but not required.