The Micro & Nano Integrated Biosystem (MINIBio) Laboratory at The Pennsylvania State University has 3 open positions. The MINIBio Lab aims at developing innovative micro and nano technologies, applying these technologies to provide translational solutions to current and future healthcare challenges in clinical setting and study fundamental biological questions to elucidate and eventually treat human diseases. The research is highly multidisciplinary, interfacing at engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences, and medicine. The lab and The Pennsylvania State University provide the state-of-art and integrated research facilities for both translational engineering and biomedical research.
Position 1
We are looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral scholar to (1) develop liquid biopsy technology for non-invasive early cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment monitoring; (2) develop portable technology for infectious virus detection and discovery. The group has been developing groundbreaking micro/nano technologies for both areas, including isolation of extracellular vesicles (Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2017, 1, 0058) and circulating tumor cells (Clinical Chemistry, 2014, 60, 323-333) from clinical cancer patient samples, and nanomaterial-integrated microdevices for virus sample preparation and detection (Science Advances, 2016, 2, e1601026).Main duties may include:
- Designing, developing and implementing high throughput sequencing-based assays (such as Illumina, PacBio, Nanopore) to identify genetic changes in clinical specimens (such as blood, saliva, urine) from cancer patients and infectious viral samples. These genetic changes will include low allele frequency mutations, deletions, copy number changes and rearrangements, and will be detected by the assays, which may include a large/small targeted sequencing panel, whole exome sequencing and/or whole transcriptome sequencing and/or whole genome sequencing.
- Designing, developing and implementing droplet digital PCR/qPCR/RT-qPCR-based assays for rare genetic mutation from extracellular vesicles and/or circulating tumor cells;
- After successfully implementing these assays, the research scholar will continue to work closely with clinicians, bioinformaticians and support staff to receive and process samples, generate sequencing libraries, perform the sequencing runs, analyze data and generate clinical data.
Required qualifications and experience:
- Ph.D. in various biological sciences, basic medical sciences, bioengineering, genetics, oncology, or related field;
- Deep understanding of the scientific basis and technical details of a variety of nucleic acid amplification and detection techniques including NGS, qPCR and fluorescent probes;
- Excellent skills in handling clinical samples and troubleshooting;
- Experience with developing multiplex assays is a plus;
- Experience with developing assay for circuiting tumor DNA is a plus;
- Experience with bioinformatics tool for genomic data analysis is a plus
- Ability to independently design, carry out, interpret and report on experiments.
Position 2
We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student or postdoctoral scholar in the area of microdevice engineering.Main duties may include:
- Design microdevices, including microfluidic devices, micro/nano sensors and therapeutic devices;
- Micro/nano fabrication;
- Nanomaterial synthesis and device integration;
- Surface functionalization;
- Device testing and validation;
- Clinical applications in cancer and infectious virus diagnosis.
Required qualifications and experience:
- Advanced degree in engineering or related field;
- Experience with micro/nano fabrication and cleanroom;
- Experience with device testing and optimization;
- Experience with nanomaterial synthesis is a plus;
- Experience with animal study is a plus;
- Experience with molecular assays (such as PCR, NGS) is a plus;
- For Ph.D. applicants, M.S. degree and previous publications are preferred.
Position 3
We are looking for a highly motivated postdoctoral scholar in the area of nanotechnology, especially nanomedicine.Main duties may include:
- Nanomaterial design and synthesis;
- Material characterization;
- in vitro experiments with cell lines;
- in vivo experiments using animal models.
Required qualifications and experience:
- PhD in related fields;
- Independent synthesis of nanomaterials;
- Familiar with various material characterization techniques;
- Highly experienced with various molecular and cellular biology assays;
- Highly experienced with animal models;
- In-depth understanding of molecular cell biology, pharmacology, and immunology;
- Experience with cancer therapy and vaccine is preferred.
For all 3 positions, successful applicants for are expected to have:
- Strong passion for innovation;
- Strong motivation for academic excellence;
- Solid academic background and publication track record;
- Good character (mature, responsible, persistent, independent, etc.);
- Strong communication skills;
- Collaborative personality;
- Versatility and willingness to learn new skills.
If interested, please contact Prof. Zheng directly and email your complete CV (with highlighted most relevant achievements/experiences) and contact information for 3 recommenders.
Dr. Siyang Zheng
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering
Member of Materials Research Institute, The Huck Institutes of The Life Sciences, and Penn State Cancer Institute
The Pennsylvania State University
Email: sxz10@psu.edu
Website: http://www.bioe.psu.edu/labs/Zheng-lab/index.html