POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE

Duke University School of Medicine, established in 1930, is the youngest of the nation's top medical schools. Ranked sixth among medical schools in the nation, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe.

About the role

The Acharya Lab in the Division of Structural Biology at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) is recruiting for a Postdoctoral Associate. We study the structures of viral glycoproteins, their interactions with host molecules, and their roles in viral entry. Working at the interface of basic and translational research, we collaborate with multiple labs in DHVI and beyond to apply insights from structural biology to vaccine design.

The lab is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including:

• Tissue culture labs
• FPLCs
• X-ray crystallography robots
• A biophysics suite with Biacore T200, Octet Red 384, ITC, DSC, and a plate reader for absorbance and fluorescence assays
• Leica EM GP2 and other equipment for cryo-EM grid preparation
• 100 keV Tundra cryo-TEM
• Regular access to the 22-ID beamline at the Argonne Photon Source for X-ray data collection
• Access to a Titan Krios microscope equipped with a Gatan K3 camera at Duke University for cryo-EM

This position will involve structural determination using high-resolution cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography of viral envelope and fusion proteins and their complexes with host receptors and antibodies, biophysical and biochemical analyses to complement structural results, and collaborations with virology and immunology labs to understand the functional implications of the structural findings.

Requirements

• Ph.D. degree with a strong background in biochemistry and structural biology
• Experience with expression and purification of proteins from mammalian cells
• Measurement of biomolecular interactions using Biolayer Interferometry or surface plasmon resonance
• Structural determination using single-particle cryo-EM analysis and atomic model building
• Deep knowledge and experience in working with virus surface glycoproteins, demonstrated with peer-reviewed publications
• At least 1 first/co-first author publication in a peer-reviewed journal
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, as well as part of a team

About the environment

At DHVI, postdoctoral associates work in concert with Duke faculty and staff in an invigorating research training environment. One of our primary scientific missions is to support and train early-stage investigators to become the next generation of scientific leaders equipped to identify and implement solutions to improve human health worldwide. We are committed to providing an outstanding training environment and research experiences that will enhance your career.