Postdoctoral Research Associate - David Solecki lab

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; Lauderdale Courts (TN); On-site; USD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, invites postdoctoral fellows to join the Solecki Lab, building imaging-based biosensor platforms to visualize chromatin states, cell polarity, and neuronal maturation in living neurons.

Fellows will design independent projects, use live-cell biosensors, advanced microscopy, and quantitative image analysis, aiming to publish first-author work and contribute to team goals in a collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• PhD in cell biology/biophysics/neuroscience or related field.
• Experience with live-cell imaging and/or super-resolution microscopy.
• Familiarity with programming in R or Python for data analysis.
• Strong record of peer-reviewed publications.
• Ability to independently design and execute experiments and interpret data.
• Good documentation and troubleshooting skills.

Responsibilities

• Carry out independent research projects using live-cell biosensors and advanced microscopy.
• Develop experiments, imaging strategies, and perturbation methods to study neuronal maturation.
• Generate first-author publications and present findings at meetings.
• Collaborate closely with the PI and interdisciplinary team.

Skills

Live-cell imaging

Super-resolution microscopy

Python/R

Peer-reviewed publications

Independent experimental design

Troubleshooting

Education

PhD in cell biology

Tools

Python

R

Job description

The Solecki Lab is building imaging-based biosensor platforms that makes chromatin states and cell polarity decisions visible in living neurons and experimentally queryable as cell-biological systems. We are looking for postdoctoral fellows who do not simply want to perform experiments but wants to help build the experimental framework for understanding how cell biological transitions unfold as neurons mature and assemble into brain circuits......by watching these processes happen in real time.

Are you a trainee who wants to be scientifically invested in defining cell states like chromatin organization or cell polarity beyond the limits of indirect molecular biology or biochemistry approaches? Postdoctoral researchers in the lab will carry out their own independent research projects and make use of live-cell biosensors, advanced microscopy, neuronal differentiation systems, acute perturbations, and quantitative image analysis in order to find out how intracellular state transitions are organized in developing neurons. The aim is not merely to apply existing tools, but to help in the development of new experimental approaches, including probes, assays, imaging strategies, and perturbation methods, that make previously invisible cell biological processes visible, measurable, and capable of being tested mechanistically.

Successful fellows will have the opportunity to define a major project within the lab's broader effort to understand neuronal maturation, chromatin-state dynamics, polarity transitions, nuclear organization, and circuit assembly. Fellows will work closely with the PI and an interdisciplinary team to develop high-risk, high-reward experiments, generate first-author publications, present at national and international meetings, and build a scientific identity at the interface of developmental neurobiology, live-cell imaging, biosensor engineering, and quantitative cell biology.

Join a supportive multi-disciplinary lab comprised of biophysicists, optics experts, data scientists, cell-biologists and developmental neurobiologists that unravel how the brain is built during development. You will be on the ground floor of transformative biosensor platforms with exposure to cutting-edge imaging technologies like lattice light sheet or super‑resolution platforms, data science core labs, and an unusually collaborative environment where new imaging probes, microscopy, and analytical methods converge on fundamental problems in brain development.

The Ideal Candidate will have:

• A PhD in cell biology, biophysics, gene regulation, neuroscience or related discipline
• Prior experience in live‑cell imaging, super‑resolution microscopy, and/or imaging probe development.
• Familiarity with programming languages (e.g. R, Python) for data analysis
• Strong record of peer‑reviewed publications
• Ability to independently design and execute experiments and interpret data
• Ability for cogent experimental preparation, validation, documentation, and troubleshooting.

In your cover letter, please describe one experimental system, assay, protocol, or project that you personally helped build or improve. What was not working at first? What did you change? How did you know the system had become reliable? What discovery did it enable?

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