Postdoctoral Scholar - Research Associate

The University of Southern California (USC), founded in 1880, is located in the heart of downtown L.A. and is the largest private employer in the City of Los Angeles. As an employee of USC, you will be a part of a world-class research university which comprises extraordinary faculty, students, and staff whose mission is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit.

The Kuhn-Hicks Laboratory at USC Michelson Center Convergent Science Institute in Cancer (CSI-Cancer) is studying circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the liquid biopsies (blood and bone marrow) of cancer patients as an approach to manage cancer care. Our single-cell multi-omic approach allows us to look at the morphology, proteome, and genome of these CTCs individually. Collectively, this information permits an understanding of the disease in hopes of enabling personalized medicine in oncology. Our efforts are led by a multidisciplinary
team of scientists and physicians across the nation. We have multiple ongoing scientific and clinical studies to explore the utility of CTCs in different cancers.
We are currently searching for an energetic, passionate, and dedicated Postdoctoral Scholar who has a keen interest in working with a large dynamic group and cutting edge technologies. The qualified candidate will lead the Multiple Myeloma Research Program; developing multiparametric liquid biopsy technologies for detection and multi-omic characterization of rare single cells from the tumor microenvironment and in the circulatory system to delineate the progression of myeloma from precursor states. The candidate will gain world-class academic and professional training from experienced principal investigators at CSI-Cancer and through consistent interactions with scientists and clinicians at USC and collaborating institutions.

Duties & Responsibilities:
● Oversee the design and implementation of experimental protocols for complex single cell multiomics research projects across the Multiple Myeloma research program within CSI-Cancer.
● Learn and perform specialized quantitative analysis in multimodal single cell
morphology, genomics, and proteomics.
● Collect, organize, analyse, and interpret large scale single cell omics data and apply statistical analyses to generate graphs and figures.
● Evaluate research documentation and new research data and generate scientific hypotheses and new research directions.
● Drive the scientific findings and project deliverables by writing and submitting
abstracts, manuscripts, progress reports to respective entities.
● Present research results and updates to principal investigators, laboratory members, and collaborators.
● Maintain relationships with collaborators across multiple institutions.
● Lead and mentor a team of technical staff, undergraduate, and graduate students working on Multiple Myeloma research projects.
● Contribute intellectually to the overall scientific mission of the institute.
● Perform other related duties as assigned or requested. The university reserves the right to add or change duties at any time.

***Interested individuals should provide their CV and a 1-2 page cover letter describing their professional goals and how their research experience can advance CSI-Cancer’s mission.***

Minimum Requirements:
● PhD degree in Biology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry or related Biological and Biomedical Science area within the previous five years.
● Must be a highly motivated individual with acute attention to detail, and able to work with minimal oversight to complete deadlines.
● Background knowledge in single cell biology, liquid biopsy, immunofluorescence assay development, and multi omics methods preferred.

Desired Qualifications:
● Possess excellent interpersonal communication skills with a high emphasis on collaboration, meticulous attention to detail, competent at working independently, and the ability to quickly adapt to a broad scope of projects.
● Experience with mentoring undergraduate and graduate students and provide
scientific and professional training to students and under their supervision
● Familiarity with mathematical concepts, computational methods, and programming languages such as R and Python for biological and clinical data analysis is a plus

Working Conditions:
● Will be working with liquid biopsies (blood, bone marrow aspirate, etc), tissue, and cell lines.
● Adhere to our Environmental Health and Safety to monitor safe storage and disposal of chemicals.
● Must comply with General Lab Safety, Blood Borne Pathogens.

This is a one-year fixed term position with the possibility of renewal.