Postdoctoral Associate

Rutgers University • Newark, NJ

22h

About The Position

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is seeking a Postdoctoral Associate within the Department of Oral Biology at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine ( RSDM ). Under the direction of the Principal Investigator, the Postdoctoral Associate will perform research centered around our lab’s investigation of wound healing, salivary gland development and regeneration, and saliva-bacteria interactions. The Postdoctoral Associate will use genetic perturbation and overexpression in vitro and in vivo (mouse) models to uncover principles that inform tissue repair, oral health, and host–microbe interactions. This position offers the opportunity to develop an independent research portfolio in a collaborative, translational environment. The goal of the research is to develop novel pharmacological treatments and therapies to wound healing, dry mouth, and oral infectious diseases such as caries and periodontitis. This position offers a collaborative, supportive environment with opportunities to pursue creative and independent research directions, as well as close mentorship tailored to career goals. Additionally, this position offers access to state-of-the-art facilities and core resources (e.g., imaging, flow cytometry, proteomics), and opportunities to contribute to lab growth and build new research platforms. New Jersey’s academic health center, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences ( RBHS ) takes an integrated approach to educating students, providing clinical care, and conducting research, all with the goal of improving human health. Aligned with Rutgers University–New Brunswick and collaborating universitywide, RBHS includes eight schools, a behavioral health network, and five centers and institutes that focus on cancer treatment and research, neuroscience, advanced biotechnology and medicine, environmental and occupational health, and health care policy and aging research. Our faculty are teachers, clinicians, and scientists with unparalleled experience who advance medical innovation and provide patient care informed by the latest research findings. We offer an outstanding education in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, nursing, biomedical research, and the full spectrum of allied health careers. Our clinical and academic facilities are located throughout the state—at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, including Piscataway; and at locations in Newark, Scotch Plains, Somerset, Stratford, and other locations. Clinical partners include Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, Newark’s University Hospital in Newark, and other affiliates. Through this community of healers, scientists, and scholars, Rutgers is equipped as never before to transform lives.

Nice To Haves

• Strong hands-on experience with wet-lab techniques, such as cell culture, molecular cloning, gene editing, microscopy, mouse handling, preferred.
• Track record of scientific productivity, including at least one first-author publication or preprint, preferred.
• Experience with mouse surgery, CRISPR -based gene manipulation in mammalian or microbial systems, preferred.
• Familiarity with computational analysis or coding (e.g., R, Python), preferred.

Responsibilities

• Investigates wound healing, salivary gland development, and/or saliva-bacterial/microbial-host interactions using molecular, cellular, and tissue-level assays.
• Designs, performs, and analyzes experiments involving gene perturbation, gene editing ( CRISPR /Cas9, RNAi), and gene overexpression approaches in vitro and in vivo models.
• Performs immunostaining for paraffin tissue sections or frozen tissues sections.
• Maintains experimental records in accordance with Rutgers institutional policies and regulatory requirements.
• Maintains laboratory equipment to meet unique needs of the research activity.
• Prepares and revises manuscripts for publication; assists with preparation of grant proposals and presentations.
• Actively seeks new collaborative projects within the department and externally.
• Assists in training and mentoring the undergraduate or master’s students.
• Helps establish protocols, workflows, and lab organization in a new, growing lab environment.
• Keeps abreast of all pertinent federal, state and Rutgers’ regulations, laws and policies as they presently exist and as they change or are modified.
• Understands and adheres to Rutgers’ compliance standards as they appear in RBHS’s Corporate Compliance Policy, Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed