Description

The Major Laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine is seeking creative, passionate and highly motivated mass spectrometrists to uncover, dissect and therapeutically target signaling mechanisms in disease.

We integrate quantitative proteomics, functional genomics, chemical biology, biochemical reconstitution, and disease-relevant models to define how dysregulated stress-response networks, kinases and ubiquitin ligases shape tumor behavior, tumor-stromal interaction and treatment response. Current efforts focus on KEAP1/NRF2 signaling in cancer and neurodegeneration; understudied kinases, their networks and functions; one-carbon metabolism; proximity proteomics; chemical screens and therapeutic discovery, spatially aware clinical proteomics with laser-capture microdissection (LCM); and multiOMIC correlates from clinical trial samples. 

Successful applicant(s) will join a collaborative and growing team in newly renovated laboratory space designed to support cell biology, biochemistry, proteomics, computation and multiOMICs studies. They will have open access to and receive operational training on a newly acquired Orbitrap Astral mass spectrometer, together with an expanding suite of capabilities in quantitative proteomics, PTM proteomics, proximity proteomics, LCM-MS and computational proteogenomics. 

Projects are designed to progress from unbiased discovery to rigorous mechanistic validation and translational testing in organoids, mice and patient samples. Scientists in our team define their own projects and project direction within the laboratory’s broader areas of interest (eg. KEAP1/NRF2, kinases, OMIC correlates with patient outcome/response, and others). 

The Major Laboratory is committed to helping each of its scientists build an independent scientific identity and a strong foundation for their next career stage. The recruited scientist(s) will receive close mentorship in experimental design, quantitative and reproducible data analysis, manuscript development, scientific presentation, fellowship and grant writing, mentoring, and career planning. The recruited scientist(s) will have opportunities to lead multidisciplinary collaborations, mentor students, present work at national and international meetings, and develop competitive applications for NIH and foundation fellowships. The laboratory values scientific rigor, intellectual generosity, collegiality, and ambitious but thoughtful discovery-driven research.

Requirements

Applicants should hold, or expect to complete before the start date, a MS, Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent doctoral degree in analytical chemistry, cancer biology, cell biology, biochemistry, chemical biology, proteomics, computational biology, bioinformatics, neuroscience, or a related discipline.

We seek candidates who demonstrate scientific passion, scientific rigor, curiosity, initiative, strong written and oral communication skills, and the ability to advance research projects through publication. Experience in one or more of the following areas is preferred but not required:

• Cancer biology, cancer metabolism, neurodegeneration, or signal transduction.
• Analytical chemistry, protein biochemistry, ubiquitin biology, redox biology, or kinase biology.
• Mass spectrometry-based proteomics, phosphoproteomics, ubiquitylation proteomics, or proximity labeling.
• CRISPR-based perturbation, functional genomics, chemical screening, structural biology, or mouse models.
• R, Python, statistical analysis, bioinformatics, large-scale data integration, or data visualization.

Applicants with complementary experimental, computational, or hybrid quantitative/biological backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.