Postdoc Positions: Next-generation Single-molecule Imaging

Company Overview

The people of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) are united by a singular mission: ending cancer for life. Our specialized care teams provide personalized, compassionate, expert care to patients of all ages. Informed by basic research done at our Sloan Kettering Institute, scientists across MSK collaborate to conduct innovative translational and clinical research that is driving a revolution in our understanding of cancer as a disease and improving the ability to prevent, diagnose, and treat it. MSK is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists and clinicians, who go on to pursue our mission at MSK and around the globe. 

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Job Description

We are seeking to recruit outstanding Postdoctoral Fellows/Associates to join us in the Pertsinidis lab in the Structural Biology Program at Sloan Kettering Institute/MSKCC in New York City.

Our lab develops cutting-edge single-molecule detection and super-resolution optical imaging techniques, and applies these tools to visualize and understand some of the most fundamental biological processes that power cellular life. Examples include modulation interferometry, a single-molecule localization-based super-resolution technique with 1-2 nm 3D precision and target-locking 3D nanoscopy, a technique that achieved single-molecule detection in high background, crowded intracellular environments. These tools have enabled some of the highest resolution single-molecule studies to date, providing new biological insights that could not be obtained before (e.g. Wang et al., Cell 2016; Li et al., Cell 2019).

You will have the chance to become an important member of our vibrant, interdisciplinary team, comprising multiple physical and biological scientists. You will have the opportunity to break new grounds in optical imaging, in situ structural biology and biological discovery. Some current interests:

1) building the next-generation single-molecule techniques - to visualize biological processes in live cells with (sub)-millisecond temporal and (sub)-nanometer 3D spatial resolution;

2) pushing the limits of extracting high-resolution information from weak signals in optically inhomogeneous, multi-cellular environments - tissue explants, 3D organoids and developing embryos;

3) constructing novel single-molecule imaging-based discovery platforms, for both basic biology as well as important biomedical applications (drug discovery, cell-based therapeutics);

4) developing new single-molecule imaging and machine learning technologies for in situ structural biology - to enable for the first time high-resolution structural studies inside cells.

Requirements:

• Desire to tackle outstanding challenges in optics, microscopy and/or single-molecule biology
• PhD degree in Physics, Chemistry, Optics, Optical Engineering, Biophysics or a relevant scientific or engineering field.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.

Experience with single-molecule detection instrumentation and high/super-resolution optical imaging (e.g. STED/RESOLFT, 4Pi, MINFLUX, SIM, LLS/SPIM approaches, Adaptive Optics, etc.), as well as cryogenics and UHV technologies is preferred but not required. Strong computational skills (e.g. computer vision, deep learning) is a plus. Individuals with additional working knowledge in areas of biochemistry, molecular, cell and developmental biology and/or genetics are strongly encouraged to apply.

If you have questions about this opportunity, please reach out to:

Dr. Alexandros Pertsinidis

(PertsinA@mskcc.org)

Please include in this application a CV, names and contact information of three references, and a short description of scientific interests

Salary Range: $61,150-$80,315

#LI-Onsite

Closing

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