Postdoctoral Associate

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 university wide, 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.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is seeking a Postdoctoral Associate for the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine ( CABM) within Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences ( RBHS).

The primary purpose of the Postdoctoral Associate is to define cell cycle phase-specific control of cellular metabolism to identify new metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer. Each phase of the cell cycle has specific biosynthetic requirements that are necessary for successful progression, indicating that phase-specific control of cellular metabolism is essential. However, our current knowledge of cell growth and proliferation lacks sufficient understanding of how cellular metabolism is differentially regulated throughout the cell cycle. This is fundamental to unraveling the basic biology of cell growth and proliferation, and has clear implications for pathological conditions involving dysregulation of the cell cycle and metabolism. Metabolic changes that only occur in specific phases would be difficult to detect in traditional studies on asynchronously growing cell populations, thus many key aspects of proliferative metabolism remain to be discovered. The lab is providing critical new understanding of how the cell cycle controls cellular metabolism by studying metabolic regulation in individual cell cycle phases.

Metabolic reprogramming is a ubiquitous hallmark of cancer cells, induced by mutations that uncouple growth-promoting signaling and metabolic outputs from their normal regulatory inputs. Although this provides a growth advantage, locking pathways in the "on" state can come at the cost of reduced plasticity and increased dependence on specific nutrients, enzymes, or pathways for sustained growth and viability. Thus, the uniquely reprogrammed metabolic networks in cancer cells offer opportunities to identify and target metabolic processes that are uniquely essential in those cells.

The Postdoctoral Associate will study how metabolism is differentially regulated throughout the cell cycle, with the ultimate goal of identifying cell cycle phase-specific metabolic vulnerabilities that can be exploited in cancer. The Postdoctoral Associate will work at the interface of basic and translational science, combining cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, genetic, and pharmacological approaches with the latest metabolomics, metabolic flux analysis, and expression profiling techniques in cultured cells and mouse models to gain a comprehensive understanding of how the cell cycle remodels cellular metabolism and how to leverage these new insights for therapeutic benefit.

Among the key duties of this position are the following:

The final salary offer may be determined by several factors, including, but not limited to, the candidate's qualifications, experience, and expertise, and availability of department or grant funds to support the position. We also take into consideration market benchmarks, if and when appropriate, and internal equity to ensure fair compensation relative to the university's broader compensation structure. We are committed to offering competitive and flexible compensation packages to attract and retain top talent.

Rutgers offers a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees, based on position, which includes:

For detailed information on benefits and eligibility, please visit: http://uhr.rutgers.edu/benefits/benefits-overview.

This position requires a fully on-site work arrangement.

Manual dexterity and vision sufficient for standard laboratory operations including pipetting and use of microscopes.

Laboratory environment. Universal precautions are mandatory.