A postdoctoral research associate position is immediately available in the laboratory of Dr. Xiang Chen in the department of Computational Biology to develop and apply innovative machine learning/statistical learning approaches to understand interactions between genetic alterations and epigenetic deregulations and to discover potential biomarkers for predicting drug responses in pediatric cancers. One of the premier pediatric research institutions in the world, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital provides exceptional resources, a collaborative environment, and access to extensive, unique cancer genomics datasets from large-scale research initiatives.

The lab will provide working experience for a postdoctoral research associate who is interested in leading or participating in all aspects of cancer omics studies via multi-disciplinary teamwork with mentoring from Dr. Chen and other scientists. The selected candidate will have opportunities to interact with leaders in the fields of pediatric cancer and translational research within and outside the institution. Innovative research leading to high-impact scientific publication is highly encouraged and will be supported by the department’s research infrastructure. For those with ambitious career goals, inter-disciplinary training will be provided to broaden or strengthen computational or biological expertise.

The Chen Lab is recognized for developing innovative machine learning and statical learning approaches and has led intratumoral heterogeneity and epigenetic deregaultions in pediatric cancers, spearheaded publications in Nature, Genome Biology, Nucleic Acid Research, Neuron, Cancer Cells, Developmental Cells, Science immunology and Nature Communications in the last five years and is funded by the NCI. St. Jude offers a highly interactive and supportive environment for researchers’ career development, including state-of-the-art high-performance computing facilities, robust analytical pipelines, the latest wet-lab technology, access to outstanding core facilities and scientific expertise in genomics, cancer biology, statistics, and computer science. The Department of Computational Biology is highly interactive with collaborative opportunities across basic and clinical departments and mentorship from faculty-level scientists with deep experience in machine learning, statistical learning, data analysis, data management and delivery of high-quality results for highly competitive projects.

We are looking for a talented and highly motivated candidate who have a strong background/interest in molecular biology and computational biology. The candidate will work closely with Dr. Chen and staff scientists in his lab with the end goal of contributing to the discovery of novel (epi-)drivers and treatment protocols for pediatric cancers using high dimensional genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data generated from bulk or single-cell tumor specimens.

The successful candidate will have expertise in 1) cancer biology or molecular biology with a strong interest in quantitative data analysis or 2) expertise in computational biology with a strong interest in cancer research. The candidate is expected to be a critical thinker, a quick learner for new analytical approaches and capable to apply or develop novel computational methods for solving complex problems. Experience in machine learning/artificial intelligence concepts and their applications in biological/biomedical research is desired (but not required). Candidates with a recent PhD and evidence of scientific accomplishment are encouraged to apply. Good communication skills and willingness to work in a team environment are essential.

St. Jude is an Equal Opportunity Employer

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. Please do not call or email. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee or other representative at St. Jude via email, the internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place and approved by HR will result in no fee being paid in the event the candidate is hired by St. Jude.