Postdoctoral Associate - Nucleic Acid Delivery

Summary

The Translational Imaging Group (TIGr) in the Department of Radiology at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Assocaite with strong communication skills and the ability to work independently as well as in a collaborative and multidisciplinary environment. The Postdoctoral Associate will lead projects on developing lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based therapeutics for nucleic acid delivery (e.g., mRNA, siRNA, CRISPR-Cas RNPs, DNA). Postdoctoral Associate will design, formulate, and characterize LNPs; optimize delivery to target cells; and evaluate therapeutic efficacy in relevant in vitro and in vivo models.

Job Duties

• Works on projects under the direction of principal investigator (PI).
• Helps in setting research directions on a daily basis within projects.
• Performs experiments and data analysis.
• Reports data and progresses at weekly meetings with PI and research group.
• Prepares manuscripts for peer-reviewed publications and provides support for fundraising efforts.
• Designs, optimizes, and scales lipid nanoparticle formulations.
• Refines lipid composition for specific payloads and targeted delivery.
• Performs physicochemical characterization.
• Tests transfection/knockdown/editing performance in relevant cell systems.
• Conducts in vivo biodistribution, PK/PD, and safety/toxicity studies.
• Probes endosomal escape, intracellular trafficking, structure–activity relationships, and uses omics/imaging tools to identify delivery barriers and off‑target effects.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• MD or Ph.D. in Basic Science, Health Science, or a related field.
• No experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. degree in pharmaceutical sciences, bioengineering, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, material science, chemistry or related field.
• Experience in nanoparticle or LNP formulation and characterization, ionizable lipid chemistry, nucleic acid delivery is highly desirable.
• Experinece in cell culture and molecular assays, flow cytometry and multi-omics is a plus.