Postdoctoral positions are available in the McKinney-Freeman laboratory of the Department of Hematology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, Tennessee, USA) to study the fundamental biology of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).
HSCs represent the most therapeutically exploited adult stem cell compartment, used routinely to treat leukemia and hematologic disease via HSC transplantation. Our major goals are to 1) illuminate the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that control the ability of HSC to home to, engraft, and repopulate the hematopoietic compartment after transplantation, 2) better understand the development of the HSC pool and bone marrow niche during early life and 3) uncover how chronic hematologic disease corrupts HSCs, with a particular focus on Sickle Cell Disease.
We hope to leverage this knowledge to design therapies targeted at improving HSC transplantation for hematologic disease and gene therapy, as well as illuminate mechanisms of hematopoietic failure during chronic hematologic disease.
Current ongoing projects for which positions are available include exploring novel signals that regulate the function of HSCs in the early bone marrow niche via interrogation of a novel single cell transcriptomic atlas and interrogating the function of HSCs and their bone marrow niche during Sickle Cell Disease in children and adults. We employ both genetic mammalian model systems and primary patient samples to pursue these aims.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, located in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, is a premier center for research and treatment of potentially fatal childhood diseases, including cancer and certain blood, genetic, and immunodeficiency disorders. The hospital’s mission is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. St. Jude is dedicated to providing unsurpassed patient care and to advancing the health of children through biomedical research.
If interested, please contact Shannon McKinney-Freeman at Shannon.mckinney-freeman@stjude.org
See also: http://www.stjuderesearch.org/site/lab/mckinney-freeman
The successful candidate will employ mouse genetics, ex vivo cell culture, flow cytometry, molecular biology, single cell transcriptomics and xenografts to study both mouse and human HSCs. This position is ideal for someone with a Ph.D and/or M.D. seeking to develop expertise in stem cell biology in an intimate and vibrant laboratory setting.