Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, SOM, Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease

Benefits: All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave granted up front, generous tuition benefits, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more.

Unit: SOM, Internal Medicine 

Department: The Stravitz‐Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health (SSI)

Duties & Responsibilities:

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine is a premier academic medical center located in the heart of Richmond. Accounting for almost half of VCU’s sponsored research, the School of Medicine is internationally recognized for patient care and education. Full-time employees at VCU have available a variety of benefits options that include group health, dental, life and disability insurance, retirement plans, flexible reimbursement accounts, a 403(b) tax-deferred annuity and 457 deferred compensation plans. Detailed information about each benefit can be found at https://hr.vcu.edu/current-employees/benefits/postdoctoral-employee-benefits/  

The Stravitz‐Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health (SSI) is recruiting a highly motivated postdoctoral fellow to join the Saul Karpen lab. The research arc of the Karpen lab focuses upon wet bench validations of etiologic gene discoveries and therapeutic target identification for rare childhood liver diseases.  Recent explorations have focused upon discovering etiologic causes of the # 1 reason to transplant a liver during childhood—biliary atresia.  The successful candidate will develop and apply research methods to analyzing a first genetic model of biliary atresia, the Pkd1l1 conditional KO mouse, including evaluations of therapeutic efficacy. 

Additional Information: 

Position Details:

Department: SSI  

Employment Type: PD - Post Doc, Commensurate with experience based on NIH postdoc scale 

Restricted Status: YES

FTE: 100

Exemption Status: Exempt

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine is a premier academic medical center located in the heart of Richmond. Accounting for almost half of VCU’s sponsored research, the School of Medicine is internationally recognized for patient care and education.   

This will be a minimum one-year appointment, contingent upon satisfactory annual reviews. Salary is commensurate with NIH guidelines and applicant experience.

Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity employer. 

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications

Qualifications:
-PhD in Molecular or Cellular Biology, Biochemistry, Physiology or other relevant discipline.
-Experience with mouse models of metabolic disease or hepatobiliary disease.
-Experience with cell signaling and developmental biology
-Experience with membrane biology and bile acid signaling are strongly considered.
-Experience with primary cell culture, epithelial cells or organoids, with isolation and culture of mouse cholangiocytes a major prioritization.
-Experience with standard DNA, RNA and Protein analytics (imaging and immunoblotting).
-Experience with advanced confocal imaging and in vivo imaging are encouraged
-Creativity and substantial evidence of productive publication history
-Independence, scientific rigor and critical thinking 

-Demonstrated ability to work in and foster an environment of respect, professionalism and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from all backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU.

Preferred Qualifications

Salary Range:  $62,232

FLSA Exemption Status: EXEMPT

Hours per Week: 40

Restricted Position: Yes

ORP Eligible: YES 

Months: 12 Months