Research Postdoctoral Fellow - Pediatric Heart Failure

SHIFT:

Day (United States of America)

Seeking Breakthrough Makers

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) offers countless ways to change lives. Our diverse community of more than 20,000 Breakthrough Makers will inspire you to pursue passions, develop expertise, and drive innovation.

At CHOP, your experience is valued; your voice is heard; and your contributions make a difference for patients and families. Join us as we build on our promise to advance pediatric care—and your career.


CHOP does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, or any other legally protected categories in any employment, training, or vendor decisions or programs. CHOP recognizes the critical importance of a workforce rich in varied backgrounds and experiences and engages in ongoing efforts to achieve that through equally varied and non-discriminatory means.


A Brief Overview
Under the direction/guidance of a mentor (principal investigator), assumes responsibility for a specific, on-going research project. The experience will serve to extend, refine and enhance skills necessary for professional and career development, and will enable the individual to broaden his/her scientific background by acquiring new research capabilities. It is expected that this individual will conduct independent scholarly research, and will contribute directly to the overall research goals of the project and the research group.

This role will be expected to participate in project planning, recording and interpretation/evaluation of data, and communication of results. This position will also be expected to acquire technical, lab management, and manuscript/grant writing skills; and participate in seminars, lectures, poster sessions and presentations at national meetings. This role also may be required to supervise junior lab members, develop new methods and protocols for research, and assist with the development of other research projects in the lab.

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, engineered heart tissues, and mouse models.

Edwards Laboratory for Pediatric Heart Failure

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

Induced pluripotent stem cells including cardiomyocyte differentiation Human biospecimen driven research Microscopy, including time-lapse imaging Cytoskeletal remodeling Molecular biology (i.e. experience in signaling pathways) Mouse handling

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:

Discovery Efforts:

Discovery of novel drivers of adaptive and pathologic RV remodeling using multiomics analyses of patient myocardial biospecimens Development of patient-specific platforms for mechanistic investigation

Mechanistic Investigation of Targets:

Mechanisms and roles of proteostatic disruption in RVF (target: ROR2) Role Noncanonical WNT signaling in fibroblast/myofibroblast activation in RVF (target: ROR2) Impact of imbalance in sarcomeric vs. non-sarcomeric actin remodeling in RVF (target: CFL1/2) Role of an uncharacterized protein in cardiomyocyte mechanical and metabolic maturation and in RVF

What you will do

• Conduct independent scholarly research and develop new methods and protocols
• Participate in project planning, recording and evaluation of data
• Acquire technical, lab management and grant writing skills
• Participate in seminars, lectures, poster sessions and presentation at national meetings
• Supervise junior lab members
• Assist