DescriptionPostdoctoral Researcher in Mutagenesis, Population and Statistical GeneticsA postdoctoral training opportunity is now available in the Seplyarskiy Lab in the McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. We are currently accepting applications for a postdoctoral fellowship in mutagenesis, statistical genomics, and computational biology.
Research directions- Mutagenesis: evolution of mutational mechanisms across the tree of life; somatic mutagenesis and clonal dynamics; reconstruction of early developmental lineages from mosaic mutations.
- Population genetics: quantifying recurrence and number of mutational origins in large cohorts; discovery of strongly selected sites and constraint from recurrence-aware models.
- Statistical genetics: partitioning heritability and enrichment in DNA-repair and mutagenesis pathways (including cancer-relevant contexts); development of mutation rate model
Training & environment- Close mentorship in mutagenesis, population genetics, and statistical genetics
- Active joint journal clubs with external groups (Ziyue Gao - UPenn, Evan Koch - Yale), collaborative community at UTSW's McDermott Center.
- Access to large datasets (e.g., biobanks, gnomAD-class resources) and compute.
Responsibilities- Formulate and test new quantitative models of mutation, selection, and clonal evolution.
- Develop methodstailored to large-scale genomic datasets.
- Lead analyses, interpret results and drive manuscripts to completion.
- Collaborate on related work across the lab's projects.
Qualifications• Ph.D. (or equivalent, or soon to be completed) in
Statistics, Biostatistics, Computer Science, Population/Statistical Genetics, Bioinformatics/Computational Biology• Proficiency in
R and/or Python/ or other languages• Plus factors: experience with method development, exposure to population-genetic theory (selection, demography, coalescent/ARG), mutational-process modeling, scalable data engineering, cloud/HPC, or ancient DNA.
Application Instructions Interested individuals should send a CV, cover letter briefly describing previous research experience, and a summary of current research interests.