Data Scientist/Postdoctoral Researcher - Zhou & Gao Labs

Computational Structural Biology and IDR Data Integration

*Zhou Lab, Buck Institute for Research on Aging & Gao Lab, Stanford University*

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Zhou Lab at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the Gao Lab at Stanford University are seeking a Data Scientist or Postdoctoral Researcher to lead computational analysis for a multidisciplinary research program focused on intrinsically disordered proteins and regions (IDPs/IDRs).

Unlike many folded proteins with a single stable structure that can be predicted by AlphaFold, IDPs exist as dynamic ensembles of conformations. IDRs/IDPs exist in 50-70% of the human proteome and are particularly important in regulatory proteins and proteins implicated in aging and age-related diseases.

This project will generate large-scale complementary experimental measurements of IDR conformational ensembles and interactions. The successful candidate will develop computational approaches to integrate these measurements and determine how mutations, post-translational modifications, binding partners, and environmental conditions alter IDR states and behaviors.

This candidate will work in close collaboration with experimental scientists and with structural biology, proteomics, and computational modeling groups. A central feature of the position is an iterative feedback loop between computation and experiment: computational analyses will help guide experimental design, and new experimental data will inform the development and refinement of computational models.

The position is jointly mentored by the Zhou and Gao labs and will involve close interaction with both research groups, through a combination of in-person and remote collaboration as appropriate.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

* Develop computational methods and pipelines to extract sequence-function relationships in IDRs. * Integrate complementary datasets including HDX-MS, interactomics, Cryo