Postdoctoral Research Associate

About the Role

The Solecki Lab is building imaging-based biosensor platforms to make chromatin states visible, measurable, and experimentally queryable in living neurons. This position is ideal for an imaging-focused trainee who wants to work at the interface of live-cell microscopy, chromatin biology, quantitative image analysis, and developmental neuroscience. The central goal is to watch chromatin-state dynamics occur in real time in developing neurons, moving beyond indirect molecular endpoints.

Key Responsibilities

• Focus on the imaging challenge of making chromatin-state dynamics measurable in living neurons by optimizing biosensor performance, microscopy acquisition, and quantitative analysis of epigenetic modifications, nuclear organization, and chromatin-state transitions during neuronal differentiation.
• Combine live-cell imaging, lattice light-sheet and/or super-resolution microscopy, neuronal differentiation systems, acute perturbations, and computational image analysis to understand how gene-regulatory states are organized in developing neurons.
• Contribute to the development of probes, assays, imaging strategies, perturbation workflows, and quantitative analysis pipelines that make previously invisible chromatin dynamics visible and mechanistically testable.
• Define a major project within the lab’s broader effort to understand chromatin-state dynamics, nuclear organization, neuronal maturation, and circuit assembly.
• Generate high-risk, high-reward experiments, first-author publications, and a distinctive scientific identity.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Prior experience in live-cell imaging, advanced microscopy, super-resolution microscopy, single-molecule imaging, lattice light-sheet microscopy, or imaging probe development.
• Interest in applying imaging-based approaches to chromatin organization, nuclear dynamics, epigenetic regulation, or neuronal differentiation.
• Familiarity with quantitative image analysis, including tools such as Python, MATLAB, R, Fiji/ImageJ, Imaris, or related platforms.
• Ability for cogent experimental preparation, validation, documentation, and troubleshooting.
• Experience with segmentation, tracking, registration, time-series analysis, or automated image-processing workflows is desirable.
• Experience with fluorescent probes, biosensors, HaloTag/SNAP-tag systems, protein engineering, or live-cell assay development is desirable.

Qualifications

• A PhD in cell biology, biophysics, gene regulation, neuroscience or related discipline.
• Strong record of peer-reviewed publications.