Postdoctoral Research Associate - Infectious Diseases

Position Summary

Postdoctoral Fellow — Viral Transmission & Vaccine Science. Jacco Boon Lab, WashU in St. Louis. Want your research to help decide how the next pandemic is stopped? The Boon Lab at WashU Medicine is hiring an enthusiastic Postdoctoral Fellow to join our team studying influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in mouse and hamster models. This is a chance to work at the frontier of infectious disease research — using barcoded viruses to track exactly how pathogens spread within and between hosts, and to measure how novel vaccines and environmental factors change the outcome. You won't just run experiments. You'll help answer questions that matter for global public health: How do vaccines and immune responses blunt transmission and disease severity? How do viruses move and disseminate between hosts? Your data will directly shape the design of next-generation countermeasures.

About The Boon Lab

The Boon Lab studies viral transmission, immune responses, and disease mechanisms while developing diagnostic tools, treatments, and preventive strategies against important human pathogens — including influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and tick-borne viruses such as Bourbon and Heartland virus. The team combines molecular tools, next-generation sequencing, mRNA vaccines, and animal models, and pioneers the use of barcoded viruses to measure and track how viruses replicate, disseminate, and transmit. By pairing cutting-edge technology with collaborations across global health partners, the lab works to unlock the mechanisms driving infection outcomes and to translate that understanding into real-world protection.

Where You'll Work

The lab is housed in the John T. Milliken Department of Medicine at WashU in St. Louis, MO, on a floor shared with several other laboratories studying virus–host interactions — so collaboration and great science are right outside your door. We also have active, ongoing collaborations with labs across the University, including Molecular Microbiology and Pathology & Immunology. It's a rich, connected environment built for scientists who want to grow.

Why This Role

• Work with a novel barcoded virus platform few labs in the world can offer.
• Build expertise across virology, immunology, and bioinformatics.
• Join a collaborative, cross-departmental research community at a top-tier medical school.
• Do science with a clear line of sight to real public health impact.

Job Description

Information on being a postdoc at WashU in St. Louis can be found at https://postdoc.wustl.edu/prospective-postdocs-2/.

Trains under the supervision of a faculty mentor including (but not limited to):

• Assists with grant preparation and reporting.
• Prepares and submits papers on research.
• Assists in the design of research experiments.
• Evaluates research findings and assists in the reporting of the results.
• Conscientious discharge of their research responsibilities.
• Maintains conformity with ethical standards in research.
• Maintains compliance with good laboratory practice including the maintenance of adequate research records.
• Engages in open and timely discussion with their mentor regarding possession or distribution of material, reagents, or records belonging to their laboratory and any proposed disclosure of findings or techniques privately or in publications.
• Collegial conduct towards co-trainees, staff members and members of the research group.
• Adherence to all applicable University policies, procedures and regulations. All data, research records and materials and other intellectual property generated in University laboratories remain the property of the University.

Working Conditions: This position works in a laboratory environment with potential exposure to biological and chemical hazards. The individual must be physically able to wear protective equipment and to provide standard care to research animals.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent terminal or doctoral degree.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hold a PhD in immunology, molecular biology, microbiology, or a similar field, earned within the past three years.
• Have published one or more papers in peer-reviewed journals.
• Be able to independently guide research projects.
• Have a background in — or a genuine desire to learn — bioinformatics analysis techniques.
• Bring strong interpersonal skills and a willingness to mentor students and technicians.
• Have excellent speaking, reading, and writing skills.

Applicant Special Instructions

For more information about the position, contact Jacco Boon at jboon@wustl.edu. To apply, please include:

• A cover letter
• Your CV
• Contact information for three references
• One key first-author publication