POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER-Health Data Sciences and Biostatistics-Xu Lab

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 52,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PPO health plan

Paid time off

TRS retirement

Parental leave

Wellness programs

Tuition reimbursement

PSLF eligibility

Job summary

UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Lin Xu lab within the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Medicine to advance bioinformatics and AI-driven analyses of genomics data.

Successful candidates will lead analyses of single-cell and genomic data, develop pipelines, collaborate with wet-lab scientists, and publish high-impact manuscripts in top journals. Candidates must hold a Ph.D.

Qualifications

• Ability to lead first-author manuscripts using large-scale single-cell or spatial omics data from patients already available in the Xu lab.
• Experience with NGS data analysis and development of customized sequencing-analysis pipelines.
• Experience with Linux environments and command-line tools.
• Doctoral degree in bioinformatics, genetics/genomics, statistics, biostatistics, computer science, systems biology, or related field.
• Excellent spoken and written English communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Analyze genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic data from patient cohorts.
• Develop and maintain computational pipelines for omics analyses.
• Collaborate with wet-lab scientists to validate predictions.
• Publish high-impact manuscripts in bioinformatics and AI.

Skills

First-author manuscripts

Single-cell / spatial omics

NGS data analysis

Linux / CLI

English communication

Education

Ph.D. in bioinformatics or related field

Job description

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERA postdoctoral training position is available in the laboratory of Dr. Lin Xu in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Medicine, Health Data Science and Biostatistics Department at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Lin Xu has developed multiple deep learning models and statistical algorithms to identify novel disease genes and therapeutic targets [e.g., Huang et al. Nature (2020), Lu et al. Nature Machine Intelligence (2022), Chai et al. Nature Medicine (2022), Takahiko et al. Science Translational Medicine (2022) (Cover Story), Shi et al. Cancer Cell (2022), Lebek et al. Science (2023), Xu et al. Nature Communications (2023), Zhu et al. Cancer Cell (2023), Zhang et al. Journal of Clinical Investigation (2023), He et al. Nature Communications (2023), Yu et al. Nature Communications (2023), Santos et al. Nature Communications (2023), Li et al. Nature Communications (2023), Wei et al. Cell (2023), Hernandez et al. PNAS (2024), Hu L et al. Mol Cell (2024), Eglenen-Polat et al. Nature Communications (2024), Lin CC et al. Nature Communications (2024), Xu L. et al. Nature Communications (2024), Venkateswaran N. et al. Nature Communications (2024), Chen S. et al. Nature Communications (2025), Liao C, Nature Communications (2025), Yang X. et al. Nature Immunology (2025), Lu ZY. et al. Nature Communications (2025), Zhou Y. et al. Nature Communications (2025), Adachi Y et al. J Clin Invest. (2025), Napolitano F, et al. J Clin Invest. (2025), Bann et al. Circulation (2025), Ding et al. Circulation (2025), Caravia XM, et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2025), Guan P, et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2025), Engreitz JM, et al. Nature (2025), Li H et al., Science (2026)]. Since 2022, his lab’s research has been published in a series of high-impact journals, including Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Medicine, Cancer Cell, eLife, PNAS, Nature Machine Intelligence, Nature Immunology, Nature Metabolism, Nature Communications, Science Translational Medicine, Science Advances, Molecular Cell, Genes & Development, Cell Reports, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Circulation, Circulation Research, and Developmental Cell.

Building on these publications in bioinformatics and AI fields, the Xu Lab has received support from multiple funding sources, including the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Hyundai Foundation, Children’s Cancer Fund, Sam Day Foundation, Rally Foundation, and Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation. Therefore, these new openings will be supported on a multi-year basis.

Candidates must hold a recent Ph.D. degree. Experience in bioinformatics and computational biology leading to publication in peer-reviewed journals is recommended.

Successful candidates will analyze genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic data from patient cohorts and develop and maintain computational pipelines. This position offers an excellent

opportunity to rapidly build highly sought-after bioinformatics skills, collaborate closely with wet-lab scientists to experimentally validate computational predictions, and publish high-impact manuscripts in bioinformatics and AI that support career advancement in industry or academia.

Position Qualifications

• 1) Ability to lead first-author manuscripts using large-scale single-cell or spatial omics data from patients already available in the Xu lab.
• 2) Experience with NGS data analysis and development of customized sequencing-analysis pipelines is strongly preferred.
• 3) Experience with Linux environments and command-line tools is required.
• 4) Doctoral degree in bioinformatics, genetics/genomics, statistics, biostatistics, computer science, systems biology, or a related field.
• 5) Excellent spoken and written English communication skills.

Create an account to upload your CV, cover letter, and a list of three references.

UTSouthwestern Medical Center is committed to an educational and working environment that provides equal opportunity to all members of the University community. Asan equal opportunity employer, UT Southwestern prohibits unlawful discrimination, including discrimination on the basis ofrace, color, religion, national origin, sex,sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression,age, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, or veteran status.

This position is security-sensitive and subject to Texas Education Code 51.215, which authorizes UT Southwestern to obtain criminal history record information.

Appointment rank will be commensurate with academic accomplishment and experience. Consideration may be given to applicants seeking less than a full-time schedule.

To learn more about the benefits UT Southwestern offers, visit https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/employees/hr-resources/

Benefits

UT Southwestern is proud to offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees. Our benefits are designed to support your overall wellbeing, and include:

• PPO medical plan, available day one at no cost for full-time employee-only coverage
• 100% coverage for preventive healthcare – no copay
• Paid Time Off, available day one
• Retirement Programs through the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)
• Paid Parental Leave Benefit
• Wellness programs
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Qualified Employer
• Learn more about these and other UTSW employee benefits!