Postdoctoral Research Associate - David Solecki lab

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; Memphis, Northern (TN, KY); Hybrid; USD 54,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis is seeking postdoctoral fellows to build imaging-based biosensor platforms and study chromatin-state dynamics and neuron maturation in developing networks.

Fellows will implement live-cell imaging, advanced microscopy, and quantitative image analysis to reveal how cellular states unfold in real time. The ideal candidate will have a PhD in cell biology, biophysics, neuroscience or a related field, hands-on experience with live-cell or

Qualifications

• PhD in a relevant field (cell biology, biophysics, neuroscience)
• Experience with live-cell imaging and advanced microscopy
• Programming in Python or R for data analysis
• Strong record of peer‑reviewed publications

Responsibilities

• Carry out independent research projects using live-cell imaging and quantitative analysis
• Develop imaging-based biosensors, probes, and imaging strategies
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary team and PI to design experiments
• Publish first-author papers and present at meetings

Skills

Live-cell imaging

Super-resolution microscopy

Imaging probe development

Python

R

Data analysis

Peer‑reviewed publications

Education

PhD in cell biology / biophysics / neuroscience

Job description

Location

Memphis, TN

Category

Postdoc

Department

Shift

Weekday Day

Position Type

Full Time

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

JR7469

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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St. Jude is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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