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Postdoctoral Researcher, Horns Lab

Palo Alto, CA

About Arc Institute

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology, working to accelerate scientific progress and understand the root causes of complex diseases. Founded in 2021 and based in Palo Alto, Arc partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.

Unlike academia, our scientists have long-term funding and industry-like resources. Unlike industry, they're free to pursue high-risk, long-term research without commercial pressures. Arc's Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs work side by side, integrating experimental and computational biology under one roof to tackle problems neither could solve alone.

Our two Institute Initiatives reflect this model in action:

  • Virtual Cell Initiative: Building a full-stack virtual cell model to identify disease mechanisms and nominate drug targets,  accelerating the path from biological insight to clinical trials.
  • Alzheimer's Disease Initiative: Mapping the genes, pathways, and environmental factors behind Alzheimer's disease to develop drug candidates that address root causes.

More than 300 Arconauts work together at our Palo Alto headquarters, backed by substantial long-term philanthropic funding.

About the position

The Horns Lab is seeking motivated, hard-working, and curious scientists. Our lab develops and applies technologies that bridge synthetic biology and genomics to answer fundamental and translational questions in human health, with a particular emphasis on immunology and neuroscience. We build new tools and use them to discover mechanisms in complex, dynamic systems, including the immune system, the brain, and other tissues.

Postdocs in the lab are encouraged to lead ambitious, independent projects, resulting in high-impact publications, and to prepare for long-term careers in academia or industry. You will have the opportunity to collaborate widely across Arc, Stanford, and the broader Bay Area ecosystem, with access to strong platforms in our lab and our institutions for genomics, single-cell technologies, synthetic biology, computation, and experimental model systems.

The questions we ask:

We are interested in how cells change over time and how those dynamics drive health and disease, and in building technologies to measure and control those dynamics. Example questions include:

  • How can we measure cellular dynamics non-destructively at scale, capturing histories, interactions, and functional outputs?
  • How do extracellular vesicles (EVs) and virus-like particles (VLPs) interact with cells and tissues, and what molecular rules govern secretion, trafficking, uptake, and cargo delivery?
  • How can we engineer delivery systems to target specific cell types and achieve efficient cytosolic delivery with minimal off-target effects?
  • How do immune cells change state, migrate, and interact with tissues over time during homeostasis, inflammation, and disease?
  • How can we profile immune receptor specificity and function at scale (TCRs/BCRs) to decipher immune recognition and control immune behaviors?

The approaches we take:

We combine synthetic biology, genomics, cellular and mammalian models, and computation. Depending on the project, approaches may include:

  • Mammalian synthetic biology
  • Single-cell and spatial multi-omics
  • Engineering and mechanistic study of EVs, VLPs, and other delivery systems
  • Immune cell engineering and functional assays
  • Sequencing-based measurement technologies
  • Computational analysis and modeling of high-dimensional datasets

About you

  • You are extremely curious and self-motivated.
  • You thrive in a fast-paced environment while conducting rigorous and impactful research.
  • You are intellectually independent and enjoy proposing and driving new research directions (with input from your PI).
  • You are eager to learn and adopt new techniques.
  • You are excited to solve puzzles that have translational impact and/or enable new discovery and therapeutic approaches.
  • You have a strong foundation in synthetic biology or genomics technology development, and/or in immunology or neuroscience.

In this position you will

  • Conduct high-impact research: Design, execute, and analyze experiments; take end-to-end ownership of a research project within the lab’s scientific focus, with guidance from the PI and increasing independence as you develop expertise.
  • Develop as a future scientific leader: Publish first-author papers in high-impact journals, present at national and international conferences, and build a network of collaborators across Arc, Stanford, and beyond.\
  • Foster scientific excellence: Mentor and train research associates, technicians, and students; engage in Arc-wide activities (seminars, symposia); contribute to a collaborative research environment; maintain rigorous experimental records and documentation; and contribute to lab operations including protocol development and maintaining shared infrastructure.

Requirements

  • Doctorate (PhD, MD, MD/PhD, DVM, or equivalent) in bioengineering, synthetic biology, genomics, immunology, neuroscience, molecular biology, or a related field.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including a track record of scientific writing (manuscripts, preprints, or equivalent).
  • Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced environment and be both an independent thinker and a highly collaborative team player.

Preferred Qualifications

Our research group thrives on bringing together people with diverse expertise. The best fit is typically someone strong in at least one area and excited to learn the others. Experience in one or more of the following is a plus:

  • Single-cell sequencing and analysis (scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq, CITE-seq)
  • Spatial transcriptomics and multi-omics
  • Pooled perturbation screens (CRISPRi/a/KO, Perturb-seq)
  • Building new sequencing-based assays or new measurement modalities
  • Molecular engineering (e.g. protein design and engineering)
  • Mammalian synthetic biology (e.g. genetic circuit design)
  • High-throughput library design and screening in mammalian cells
  • Immune cell biology or engineering
  • Immune receptor biology and profiling
  • Neurobiology
  • EVs, VLPs, or related nanoparticle systems
  • In vivo models (e.g. mouse)
  • Expertise in analysis of high-dimensional datasets (e.g. single-cell transcriptomics, spatial transcriptomics, pooled screening, using Python or R)
  • Strong quantitative mindset

How to Apply

Please submit:

  1. CV
  2. Brief cover letter describing your research interests, what kinds of projects you’re excited to lead, and why the Horns Lab is a fit. Please be sure to include contact information for 3+ references.

The minimum base salary for this position is $80,000. Base salary for this role is determined by how many months of relevant postdoctoral experience a successful candidate has. Base salary for this role is not negotiable.

 

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