If your research interest aligns with any of the faculty listed below, please indicate this in your cover letter and your application. You can see a list of the schools and departments by visiting the academic portal for USC.
Mark Humayun, MD, PhD
Professor of Ophthalmology, Biomedical Engineering and Cell and Neurobiology, Director of the Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics
USC Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics Laboratory
Looking for a postdoc with expertise in performing subretinal implantation surgeries in rats and conduct OCT imaging to assess the location of the implant placement. Contribute to visual functional assessments in rodents based on electrophysiology and behavioral testing. Conduct periodic ophthalmic evaluations in rats. Interested candidates should have extensive experience in field of ophthalmology and surgical skills.
Cheng-Ming Chuong, MD, PhD, Professor of Pathology, Academician, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
http://www-hsc.usc.edu/~cmchuong | contact: cmchuiong@usc.edu
Lab research objectives
- Self-organization of stem cells and engineering of tissue patterns.
- Collective regenerative behavior of an organ population.
- How the shape and size of an organ is produced.
- Epigenetics regulation of stem cell activity and skin regional specificity.
- Evo-Devo of feathers and other integumentary organs
Projects: chicken feathers, mouse hairs, wound regeneration, skin tissue engineering
Brian Lee, MD PhD Director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Department of Neurological Surgery
USC Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Laboratory
We are seeking a full-time postdoctoral fellow to work on a funded project related to cognitive-based brain-computer interface devices (BCI) for patients with spinal cord injuries and movement disorders. In particular, we are interested in utilizing intracranial subdural electrocorticography (ECoG) electrodes as a platform for recording and stimulating the human cerebral cortex so we can better understand how somatosensation is natively encoded, and conversely, how we can engineer artificial sensation through direct ECoG electrical stimulation for use in a closed-loop BCI. Our lab has strong collaborations with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) on many joint studies. Requirements – PhD in neuroscience, engineering, mathematics, or related field – Strong computational/engineering background – Experience in neural time series data analysis – Skilled in MATLAB or Python
Bora Gencturk, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Director, Structures and Materials Research Laboratory (SMRL), Sonny Astani Dept. of Civil and Env. Engineering
- Novel materials and environmental durability.
- Advanced structural testing and measurement.
- Reliability analysis and probabilistic methods.
- Life-cycle assessment (LCA) and structural optimization.
- Field investigations and structural assessment.
- Looking for a postdoc with expertise in immunoblotting; protein complex immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP); RNA and DNA extraction and purification; RT-qPCR and qPCR and conventional PCR; gel electrophoresis; mouse genotyping; breeding and maintenance of mouse colonies; cell culture, including aseptic/sterile technique, propagation and maintenance of cell lines, spheroid formation assay; lentiviral and adenoviral transduction; collection of tissues for frozen sections, in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and cell culture.
- Proficiency in English and in the use of Microsoft Excel.
- http://www.stopcancer.org/Main/Default/OurResearcherDetail.aspx?id=167
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PvtnNBbMGE
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28143772,27214381,21731504,21256905,18266228,16618405
The University of Southern California School of Pharmacy is seeking a highly motivated individual for the Wong-Beringer/Beringer Laboratory to work on infection and immunity aspects of host-pathogen interactions impacting outcome of clinical infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The goal of our major project is to understand the mechanisms underlying bacterial manipulation of host innate and adaptive immune response and host genetic susceptibility leading to poor outcomes of acute and chronic infections. Additionally, agents with immunomodulatory activity will be investigated to harness their therapeutic potential for use in conjunction with antibiotic therapy to precisely target patients based on phenotype-genotype data.
Specific responsibilities include planning and analysis of research studies and preparation of data for papers and grants. The candidate is also expected to assist the P.I. in training undergraduate and graduate students as needed.
Successful candidates should have a recent Ph.D. in Immunology, Molecular Microbiology, Cellular Biology or related fields. Strong experience in flow cytometry, cell culture protein chemistry, experimental models of infection, and molecular cloning is highly desirable.
Krishna S. Nayak, Ph.D., knayak@usc.edu
Hyungjin Eoh, DVM. Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Mol. Microbiology & Immunology, Keck School of Medicine of USC
Tel. 323-442-6048, Email: heoh@usc.edu
Websites: https://keck.usc.edu/faculty/hyungjin-eoh/ | http://uscmmi.com/hyungjineohlab/
Recent publications: Nat. Microbiology. 2017 Accepted. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Mar 14;114(11):E2225-E2232. Cell Rep. 2016 Jan 26;14(3):572-85.
Brief Description of the position: Metabolomics based new antibiotics discovery and/or vaccine development in tuberculosis which is a number one human killer (annually 1.8 million world population) among infectious diseases, worldwide. Current expansion of our metabolomics study is active to understand mechanistic bases of iPSC (inducible Pluripotent Stem Cells, collaboration with Johns Hopkins Medical School), of infectious disease outcome in HIV or diabetic patients (collaboration with KSOM, USC), of acquisition of drug-tolerance/resistance (collaborations with TB research center USC and ITRC, South Korea), among many.
Specific responsibilities include designing/planning experiments, preparation of data for manuscripts and grant application. The candidate is also expected to be actively involved in collaboration projects with various research areas including stem cell metabolism, host-infectious agent interactions, mechanistic understanding drug resistant mutants.
Candidates should have recent Ph.D. or equivalent degree and have a strong background in biological sciences (microbiology, biochemistry or related areas). Candidates with prior experience in working with BSL3 laboratory, physiology of host-pathogen interaction or metabolism and LCMS metabolomics/big data mining are encouraged. More importantly, candidates should be demonstrated ability to work independently, enthusiastically and self-motivated.
Amy L. Firth amy.firth@med.usc.edu, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine
University of Southern California Hastings Center for Pulmonary Research, Department of Medicine, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine
We are seeking highly motivated individuals to join our group in studying human lung diseases using patient specific cell models. We are particularly focused on the use of induced pluripotent stem cells to study the specification of specialized lung cell types and the development and progression of human lung diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia and COPD.
Postdoctoral candidates with a PhD degree and background in lung biology, bioinformatics, cell biology, epithelial biology, gene editing and stem cells and regenerative medicine are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to candidates with strong experience in lung biology, experimental models of lung disease and bioinformatics analysis is highly desirable.
Specific responsibilities include planning and analysis of research studies and preparation of data for papers and grants. The candidate will be expected to assist in training undergraduate and graduate students as needed in the laboratory.
Candidates must have earned or will soon receive a Ph.D. in a field relevant to the interests of the Firth Lab as outlined above. We are seeking candidates should be highly motivated, independent, and creative. For more information, see https://firthlab.usc.edu/ and http://profiles.sc-ctsi.org/amy.firth
J.-H. James Ou, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine
Email: jamesou@hsc.usc.edu, Phone: (323) 442-1720, Lab Website: http://uscmmi.com/jamesoulab
The research of our laboratory is centered on hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and liver cancer. We are particularly interested in understanding how these two viruses interact with their host cells, how they invaded host immunity to establish persistent infection, and how they cause liver diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma.
Jean Chen Shih, Ph.D. Boyd and Elsie Welin Professor
Member, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
https://pibbs.usc.edu/faculty/profile/?fid=35
https://pharmacyschool.usc.edu/research/centers/translational-research/
Jean Chen Shih’s lab at the Department of Pharmacology & Pharmaceutical Sciences at USC is seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar to conduct research on the role of cancer stem cells in prostate, glioma and other cancers, and to develop tumor-targeted therapy. The candidate will collaborate with an interdisciplinary team consisting of cancer researchers and clinicians to develop new therapies targeted to cancer stem cells. The approach will involve genetically-defined murine cancer models, human primary cell cultures, and clinically-derived patient samples. The candidate should be proficient in molecular biology techniques, including cancer stem cell culture, live cell microscopy, immunoblot analysis, qPCR assay and histology. Responsibilities include research design and data analysis. Candidate should be highly self-motivated and independent. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are required. Publications in journals in related fields are desirable.