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Career Opportunity: Postdoctoral Fellow in the Simpson Lab

The University of Washington Division of Dermatology has an outstanding opportunity for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Cory Simpson, MD, PhD, FAAD (he, him, his), a board-certified dermatologist at UW Medical Center’s Roosevelt Dermatology Clinic and an Assistant Professor and Researcher in the Division of Dermatology.

Established in 2021, the Simpson Lab is a wet lab at the University of Washington specializing in skin regeneration, repair and imaging. The Simpson Lab is located at the UW Medicine South Lake Union (SLU) Campus amidst an innovative biomedical research hub in Seattle.  

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Job Description:

  • Fulltime, in-person position
  • Anticipated start date is Fall 2022 with a renewable 12-month appointment
  • Location: Simpson Lab, located on the UW Medicine research campus in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood

A position for a postdoctoral fellow is available in the laboratory of Dr. Cory Simpson, MD, PhD, FAAD (Assistant Professor, Medicine/Dermatology). Dr. Simpson is a physician-scientist and a committed mentor who is aiming to build an enthusiastic research team and create a collaborative learning environment that values diversity, fosters innovation, and promotes each member’s career development.

We are applying advanced methods in live microscopy and cell biology to primary human keratinocytes and an organotypic model of the epidermis. Our goals are to better understand the mechanisms of epidermal differentiation, to model genetic skin disorders in vitro, and to identify novel treatment approaches for dermatologic diseases, especially rare skin disorders lacking effective therapies.

Spinning-disk confocal microscope in the Simpson Lab. Our lab occupies remodeled space on the new UW Medicine research campus located in the vibrant South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle. The Simpson Lab has a dedicated spinning-disk confocal microscope, which permits us to image live 3-D epidermal cultures at high resolution and offers a laser photo-activation module for novel optogenetic approaches. We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow with experience and interest in live microscopy and image quantification methods to help us understand how organelle degradation and calcium dynamics drive keratinocyte differentiation and how they are altered in diseases compromising the epidermal barrier.

Spinning-disk confocal microscope in the Simpson Lab.
Spinning-disk confocal microscope in the Simpson Lab.

Our lab occupies remodeled space on the new UW Medicine research campus located in the vibrant South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle. The Simpson Lab has a dedicated spinning-disk confocal microscope, which permits us to image live 3-D epidermal cultures at high resolution and offers a laser photo-activation module for novel optogenetic approaches. We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow with experience and interest in live microscopy and image quantification methods to help us understand how organelle degradation and calcium dynamics drive keratinocyte differentiation and how they are altered in diseases compromising the epidermal barrier.

We also have access to the outstanding core facilities and collaborative faculty of the UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM). A postdoctoral fellow with prior experience or interest in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) would have the opportunity to leverage the ISCRM core for stem cell gene editing to build in vitro models of genetic dermatologic diseases. We are also aiming to engage the ISCRM high-throughput screening core to build a translational research focus with the goal of identifying better treatment strategies for rare dermatologic disorders.

Qualifications:

Applicants should have relevant laboratory research experience in basic molecular biology methods (e.g., plasmid cloning, PCR), cell biology methods (e.g., cell culture, DNA transfection, viral transduction, immunostaining, immunoblotting), and/or live microscopy. Experience with induced pluripotent stem cells, image analysis, and coding/computational biology would be particularly advantageous for this position. Applicants should have an MD and/or PhD degree by the start date, strong written and oral scientific communication skills, and a commitment to lab collegiality.

Please visit simpsonskinlab.org for more details on our research.

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