About City of Hope

City of Hope, an innovative biomedical research, treatment and educational institution with over 6,000 employees, is dedicated to the prevention and cure of cancer and other life-threatening diseases and guided by a compassionate, patient-centered philosophy.

Founded in 1913 and headquartered in Duarte, California, City of Hope is a remarkable non-profit institution, where compassion and advanced care go hand-in-hand with excellence in clinical and scientific research.  City of Hope is a National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers that develops and institutes standards of care for cancer treatment.

Position Summary

An NIH-funded Postdoctoral Fellow Position is available to probe the mechanisms of alcohol use disorders. In the U.S., this brain disorder is estimated to occur in 15 million people. The resulting pattern of long-term alcohol use can lead to cancer and diabetes; it may limit the life span of an individual by more than 20 years. Unfortunately, the scarce therapies that exist for treating alcohol use disorders are marginally effective. One challenge in developing new treatments has been that alcohol does not bind to specific receptors. Rather, it perturbs the dynamics of protein-lipid interactions in the plasma membrane. To identify potential new therapeutic approaches, our laboratory has been probing the disorder at the molecular level. Using single molecule localization microscopy in cultured cells and rat brain slices, our goal is to define the nano-organization of kappa opioid receptor, mu opioid receptor, and relevant components of the plasma membrane. We expect this molecular level data to open avenues towards new treatments for alcohol use disorders.

Key Responsibilities include:

To both identify molecular mechanisms of alcohol use disorders and advance new therapeutic approaches, we seek a Postdoctoral Fellow with experience in cell biology and quantitative microscopy. The Postdoctoral Fellow will culture cells, work with extracellular vesicles (small biomarker-loaded particles shed by cells) from rat plasma, immunostain cells, extracellular vesicles, and rat brain slices, perform imaging experiments using single molecule localization microscopy, and complete data analysis to define the nano-organization of relevant biomolecules.

Basic education, experience and skills required for consideration:

• A Ph.D. degree in biomedical sciences, biophysics, chemical engineering or a related discipline is required with no more than 4 years of postdoctoral training.
• Experience in quantitative microscopy and cell biology.
• Ability to carry out independent research and prepare manuscripts for publication.
• Super-resolution microscopy and MATLAB programing experience is preferred.

Additional Information:

About Dr. Jovanovic-Talisman: Tijana Jovanovic-Talisman, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine. Dr. Talisman and team are investigating biological processes that are critical to the progression of cancer and other diseases by using quantitative single molecule localization microscopy (qSMLM).

For more information on the Jovanovic-Talisman Lab, please click here.

As a condition of employment, City of Hope requires staff to comply with all state and federal vaccination mandates.

City of Hope is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.

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