Postdoctoral Research Associate

We are seeking a highly motivated and ambitious postdoctoral fellow to join the group of Dr. Giedre Krenciute in the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. Our lab focuses on highly translational immunology research, specifically using genetically engineered human or murine T cells to design novel, long-lasting, and safe therapeutic approaches for pediatric brain tumors.

About the role

The postdoctoral fellow will work on projects involving:

• Designing, generating, and optimizing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) specific for pediatric brain tumors
• Enhancing CAR T cell effector function and longevity using different genetic manipulations
• Studying the brain tumor microenvironment and its effect on CAR T cell function

Representative Publications

• Ibañez-Vega J, Teis R, Ocasio JK, et al. RASA2 deletion rescues immune synapse dysfunction, enhancing CAR T cell efficacy against DMGs. J Immunother Cancer. 2026;14(3). doi: 10.1136/jitc-2025-013134.
• Meehl MM, Immadisetty K, Trivedi VD, et al. Computational structural optimization enhances IL13Rα2 - B7-H3 tandem CAR T cells to overcome antigen-heterogeneity-mediated tumor escape. Mol Ther. 2025. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2025.07.044.
• Mehta S, Ippagunta S, Varadharajan S, et al. B7-H3 CAR T-cells are effective against ependymomas, but limited by tumor size and immune response. Clin Cancer Res. 2025. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-3083.
• Haydar D, Ibañez-Vega J, Crawford JC, et al. CAR T-cell design-dependent remodeling of the brain tumor-immune microenvironment modulates tumor-associated macrophages and anti-glioma activity. Cancer Res Commun. 2023. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0424.
• Prinzing B, Zebley CC, Petersen CT, et al. Deleting DNMT3A in CAR T cells prevents exhaustion and enhances antitumor activity. Sci Transl Med. 2021;13(620). doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abh0272.

Requirements

In addition to a Ph.D., the candidate should have expertise in the following techniques (all highly preferred but not required):

• Molecular biology techniques (DNA-related work such as propagation in bacteria, isolation, PCR; RNA-related work such as isolation, qPCR; Western blot; CRISPR)
• Cloning (ligation cloning, Gibson Assembly variants such as InFusion or NEBuilder) and plasmid design using SnapGene or equivalent software
• Tissue culture (tumor and immune cells)
• Flow cytometry
• Transfection, transduction, and transformation
• Immunology methods (cytokine detection by ELISAs and/or flow, immune cell isolation from animals, etc.)
• Animal work

Training in brain tumor biology, immunology, and/or CAR T cell biology is highly advantageous but not necessary. Fluency in English is essential.

Qualifications

• Ability to work independently as well as in a collaborative research team
• Strong desire to make a major contribution to the field of CAR T cell biology

Benefits

• Access to outstanding research facilities and a highly collaborative St. Jude community
• Opportunities to interact and work with leaders in basic and translational immunology and brain tumor biology research within and outside the institution

Interested applicants should send their CV, a cover letter describing research experience and interests, and the names and email addresses of three references to: giedre.krenciute@stjude.org.