Postdoctoral Scholar - Pelka Lab

We are seeking a highly motivated applicant for a full-time position as a Postdoctoral Fellow to join us in our efforts to systematically dissect multicellular interaction networks in human tumors with the goal to improve immunotherapy. We are a new lab within the joint Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology. Our goal is to better understand how immune, stromal, and malignant cells are working together in complex human tissues to sense danger, initiate, execute, and terminate customized defense mechanisms, and re-establish homeostasis. We are especially interested in innate immune mechanisms that set the stage for whether or not anti-tumor responses are successful. Our work is based on our recent single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial profiling effort that revealed several immunologically relevant and spatially-organized multicellular interaction networks, â˜immune hubsâ™, in tumor tissues from patients with colorectal cancer (Pelka et al. Cell 2021). The next step is to decode the intercellular communication pathways within and between immune hubs to learn how the hubs form, how they function, how they evolve over time, and how pre-existing hubs impact future immune responses. To this end, we will perform high-throughput and high-content CRISPR-based perturbation screens in human ex vivo and mouse in vivo models and draw from the patient-derived tissue and organoid resources that we have built. Key areas in the lab are (1) Spatial profiling of immune hubs in patient specimens; (2) Human ex vivo cell-cell interaction screens (3); Mouse in vivo cell-cell interaction screens; (4) Epigenetic impact of immune hubs on myeloid and malignant cells. We are embedded in the dynamic and vibrant research community of the Gladstone, UCSF, and the larger Bay Area with ample training and career development opportunities, and strongly believe in cross-disciplinary collaboration. Our goal is to reveal fundamental rules of tumor and tissue immunology, identify biomarkers of immunotherapy response, discover novel drug targets to improve immunotherapy and raise the next generation of cancer immunologists.

Requirements

- PhD and/or MD in life science or a related discipline relevant to our lab, e.g. molecular biology, immunology, genetics, bioinformatics
- Highly self-motivated, passionate, and committed to bringing ambitious projects to completion
-  Ability to work both independently and as a member of a team
- Reliable, responsible, and with high scientific standards

Payment is according to the Gladstone Institutes pay scale. The J David Gladstone Institutes is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. Please submit your complete application documents including cover letter, CV, and contact information for references to: