A postdoctoral researcher position is available immediately in the laboratory of Dr. Sue Rhee at the Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Plant Biology, to analyze metabolic networks and models of plants and fungal plant-pathogens and their interaction with each other. Pathogens impact growth and productivity of plants and thus are a supreme target in a future of scarce food resources due to changes in climate with subsequent changes in pathogen prevalence. The successful candidate will lead the curation of metabolic reactions of pathogen metabolism and development of computational tools and methods for predicting the interaction between plants and fungal pathogens. The successful candidate will have opportunities to investigate novel questions regarding evolution, co-evolution, and emergence of pathogenicity and biotrophy by leveraging the tools and data generated at the Plant Metabolic Network (PMN, www.plantcyc.org) and the Rhee lab, in collaboration with research groups at Berkley and Lawrence Berkley National labs.
The Carnegie Institution, a private, nonprofit organization engaged in basic research and advanced education in biology, astronomy, and the earth sciences, was founded and endowed by Andrew Carnegie in 1902 and incorporated by an act of Congress in 1904. Andrew Carnegie conceived the Institution’s purpose “to encourage, in the broadest and most liberal manner, investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind.” The Department of Plant Biology engages in basic research on the mechanisms involved in the growth and development of plants and algae. The Department of Plant Biology is co-located with the Carnegie Department of Global Ecology on a seven-acre site on the campus of Stanford University.
Qualified candidates must have a Ph.D. or equivalent in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Biology, Plant biology, Microbiology, Systems Biology, Biochemistry or a related field, and a strong background in applying constraint based metabolic models, statistics and programming, as well as a strong interest in metabolism and its biochemistry and in development of new computational approaches to address interesting biological problems. Candidates with experience in programming in MATLAB and/or the use of the COBRA toolbox are especially encouraged to apply. Working experience (either wet lab or dry lab) with fungal pathogens or plants, and proficiency in programming languages of Python and/or Perl are pluses. The successful candidate should also have demonstrated ability for independent and critical thinking, excellent communication and teamwork skills, and enthusiasm for learning new things.
Apply online here:
jobs.carnegiescience.edu/jobs/bioinformatics-postdoc-position-to-study-plant-host-pathogen-relationships/