Postdoctoral Research Associate - Developmental Neurobiology - Solecki Lab

About the role

The Solecki Lab is building imaging-based biosensor platforms that make chromatin states and cell polarity decisions visible in living neurons and experimentally queryable as cell-biological systems. We are looking for postdoctoral fellows who want to help build the experimental framework for understanding how cell biological transitions unfold as neurons mature and assemble into brain circuits by watching these processes happen in real time.

Postdoctoral researchers in the lab will carry out independent research projects and make use of live-cell biosensors, advanced microscopy, neuronal differentiation systems, acute perturbations, and quantitative image analysis to investigate how intracellular state transitions are organized in developing neurons. The aim is not merely to apply existing tools but to help develop new experimental approaches—including probes, assays, imaging strategies, and perturbation methods—that make previously invisible cell biological processes visible, measurable, and capable of being tested mechanistically.

Successful fellows will have the opportunity to define a major project within the lab’s broader effort to understand neuronal maturation, chromatin-state dynamics, polarity transitions, nuclear organization, and circuit assembly. Fellows will work closely with the PI and an interdisciplinary team to develop high-risk, high-reward experiments, generate first-author publications, present at national and international meetings, and build a scientific identity at the interface of developmental neurobiology, live-cell imaging, biosensor engineering, and quantitative cell biology.

Lab environment

Join a supportive, multidisciplinary lab comprised of biophysicists, optics experts, data scientists, cell biologists, and developmental neurobiologists unraveling how the brain is built during development. You will be on the ground floor of transformative biosensor platforms with exposure to cutting-edge imaging technologies like lattice light sheet or super-resolution platforms, data science core labs, and an unusually collaborative environment where new imaging probes, microscopy, and analytical methods converge on fundamental problems in brain development.

Requirements

• PhD in cell biology, biophysics, gene regulation, neuroscience, or a related discipline
• Prior experience in live-cell imaging, super-resolution microscopy, and/or imaging probe development
• Familiarity with programming languages (e.g., R, Python) for data analysis
• Strong record of peer-reviewed publications
• Ability to independently design and execute experiments and interpret data
• Skill in experimental preparation, validation, documentation, and troubleshooting

Application note

In your cover letter, describe one experimental system, assay, protocol, or project you personally helped build or improve. Explain what was not working at first, what you changed, how you knew the system had become reliable, and what discovery it enabled.

Contact: David J. Solecki, PhD, Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.