Postdoctoral Research Associate

About the Role

The Woodfolk Laboratory at the University of Virginia School of Medicine is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate with expertise in systems immunology and computational biology. This role investigates human immune responses to allergens and respiratory viruses, focusing on mechanisms underlying asthma, food allergy, and virus-associated chronic lung disease, including post-viral syndromes. The position will involve work at the interface of experimental and computational immunology, applying integrated approaches to define immune states, cellular interactions, and molecular pathways associated with human disease. The work will include the generation and analysis of high-dimensional datasets.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement systems immunology studies using high-dimensional immune profiling and transcriptomic approaches.
• Generate, process, and analyze multiparameter/spectral flow cytometry data, including identification and characterization of immune cell populations and cellular states.
• Analyze bulk and/or single-cell transcriptomic datasets and integrate transcriptomic data with flow cytometry and clinical phenotypes.
• Develop and implement computational pipelines and analytical approaches for high-dimensional biological datasets.
• Apply statistical, machine-learning, dimensionality-reduction, and other systems-level approaches to identify immune signatures, cellular states, and pathways associated with disease severity and clinical outcomes.
• Collaborate closely with team members to develop hypotheses, design experiments, interpret results, and experimentally validate computational findings.
• Contribute to manuscript preparation, grant development, scientific presentations, and dissemination of research findings.
• Mentor students and contribute to the collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment of the laboratory.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Doctoral degree, preferably a PhD in immunology, computational biology, bioinformatics, systems biology, or a related field.
• Strong knowledge of immunology.
• Extensive coding and computational experience.
• Demonstrated experience with analysis of high-dimensional flow cytometry and/or transcriptomics datasets.
• Experience developing, implementing, or substantially modifying computational pipelines for biological data analysis.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills, including experience with statistical analysis and visualization of complex datasets.
• Experience with single-cell RNA sequencing, CITE-seq, TCR sequencing, or other multimodal single-cell technologies.
• Experience applying machine learning, network analysis, or other systems-level approaches to immunological questions.
• Research experience in immune-mediated diseases.

Qualifications

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary research environment.
• Strong scientific writing and communication skills.
• Doctoral degree within the previous five years.

Research Environment

• Interdisciplinary research environment combining human immunology, experimental models, high-dimensional immune profiling, and computational approaches.
• Opportunities to collaborate with investigators across UVA.
• Access to institutional resources in flow cytometry, genomics, bioinformatics, data science, and clinical research.
• Interested in candidates excited by the opportunity to bridge experimental and computational immunology.

This is a 12-month appointment with the possibility of renewal for an additional two, one-year increments, contingent upon satisfactory performance and funding availability.

This position is based in Charlottesville, VA, and must be performed fully on-site.