Metabolic Engineering Jobs in Utah (NOW HIRING)

Details

The Ho lab at the University of Utah is launching an ambitious program to systematically discover, map, and therapeutically harness mitochondrial microproteins to reverse mitochondrial dysfunction in rare and common disease. Microproteins encoded by small open reading frames (smORFs) are an enormous, largely uncharted space of short proteins that regulate core aspects of mitochondrial metabolism, import, and stress responses, and represent a new class of therapeutic targets. Building on our leadership in microprotein discovery and function, we are now expanding in Utah to recruit multiple postdoctoral fellows to apply high throughput methods and machine/deep learning to unlock the full potential of the dark proteome.

Scientific vision

Ribosome profiling has uncovered nearly 10,000 human microproteins, yet fewer than 1% are functionally characterized, and a substantial fraction appear to localize to mitochondria ("mito-MPs"). Our longterm goal is to:

Postdocs in the lab will drive one or more of the following thrusts (projects can be tailored to your background):

If you are excited by the idea of treating microproteins as programmable therapeutic modules and want to work at the intersection of mitochondrial biology, functional genomics, and machine learning, we would love to hear from you.

Methods and platforms in the lab

Depending on your project and interests, you will have the opportunity to work with:

The Ho lab culture emphasizes team science, rigorous mechanistic work, and translation; you will join a collaborative network of basic and clinical partners aimed at moving microprotein discoveries toward therapeutic applications.

Ideal candidate profile

We are recruiting multiple postdocs, and strongly encourage applicants from all scientific and personal backgrounds. Ideal candidates will bring expertise in at least one of the following areas, and enthusiasm to learn across disciplines:

Qualifications

Prior experience in every technique listed is not required; we expect you to have depth in one area and motivation to expand your toolkit in others.

What we offer

How to apply

Please email the following materials to lena@ho-lab.org with the subject line "Postdoctoral application - Microproteins & Mitochondria":

Informal inquiries are welcome if you would like to discuss fit or project directions before applying. For more information on our work, please visit www.ho-lab.org.

The University is a participating employer with Utah Retirement Systems ("URS"). Eligible new hires with prior URS service, may elect to enroll in URS if they make the election before they become eligible for retirement (usually the first day of work). Contact Human Resources at (801) 581-7447 for information. Individuals who previously retired and are receiving monthly retirement benefits from URS are subject to URS' post-retirement rules and restrictions. Please contact Utah Retirement Systems at (801) 366-7770 or (800) 695-4877 or University Human Resource Management at (801) 581-7447 if you have questions regarding the post-retirement rules.
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