Research Postdoctoral Fellow - Pediatric Heart Failure

A Brief Overview

Assume responsibility for an on-going, innovative research project as a Postdoctoral Fellow at CHOP. Our postdoc experience will broaden your skillset, scientific background, and research capabilities.

CHOP's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
CHOP is committed to building an inclusive culture where employees feel a sense of belonging, connection, and community within their workplace. We are a team dedicated to fostering an environment that allows for all to be their authentic selves. We are focused on attracting, cultivating, and retaining diverse talent who can help us deliver on our mission to be a world leader in the advancement of healthcare for children.

We strongly encourage all candidates of diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply.

About the Laboratory

Pediatric heart failure is increasingly a disease of right ventricular heart failure (RVF) for which there are no proven therapies. The overarching goal of the Edwards Lab is to unravel the molecular underpinnings of RVF towards identifying novel mechanism-driven therapeutic targets. To that end, we incorporate multiple complementary strategies and model systems. These include human myocardial biospecimen and preclinical animal model driven discovery efforts, genetically and pharmacologically modified preclinical human and murine cell and tissue models including living myocardial slices, and mouse models.

The Edwards lab is actively expanding and looking for candidates with backgrounds and interests that include varying combinations of the following skillsets:

• Computational biology (i.e. analysis of various 'omics)
• Biomedical engineering (i.e. familiarity with basic tissue mechanics)
• Molecular biology (i.e. experience in signaling pathways)
• Mouse handling
• Cell culture
• Cloning
• Microscopy

A postdoctoral trainee will be expected to be the primary driver of their research project with active mentorship by the laboratory principal investigator. The goal for this additional training will be to diversify the knowledge and skillsets of the trainee, to advance the goals of the Edwards lab, and most importantly to prepare the trainee for their chosen next career phase (i.e. pursuit of a career development award, industry position, senior scientist, etc.).

Current areas of investigation of the Edwards lab include:

• Role of Noncanonical WNT signaling (ROR2) in disruption of cardiomyocyte proteostasis during RVF
• Role of Noncanonical WNT signaling (ROR2) in fibroblast/myofibroblast activation in RVF Role of CFL1/2 in sarcomeric and non-sarcomeric actin remodeling in RVF
• Role a novel protein in cardiomyocyte mechanical and metabolic maturation and in RVF
• Discovery of novel drivers of adaptive and pathologic RV remodeling using patient myocardial biospecimens
• Impact of hypoxia during myocardial development

Responsibilities

• Participate in project planning, recording, and evaluation of data.

• Conduct independent scholarly research, developing new methods and protocols under the guidance of a mentor (principal investigator).

• Acquire technical, lab management, and grant writing skills.

• Participate in seminars, lectures, poster sessions, national presentations, and professional workshops.

• Supervise junior lab members.

• Assist with other research projects as needed.

Education

• Required: Doctorate