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A fully funded postdoctoral position (up to 5 years) is available in the Structural Biology of Noncoding RNAs and Ribonucleoproteins Section, Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), NIDDK, in NIH’s vibrant main campus in Bethesda, MD near Washington DC. The lab addresses a widening gap between the accelerated discovery and functional description of the noncoding transcriptome, and a paucity of 3D structures and mechanistic understanding of complex noncoding RNAs. We seek a new member to join our diverse group to deepen current work on gene-regulatory riboswitches, highly structured viral RNAs, circular and other structured long noncoding RNAs. https://www-mslmb.niddk.nih.gov/zhang/zhanglab.html
Current manuscripts and recent publications:
- Li et al., & Zhang (2017) Structural basis of amino acid sensing on the tRNA by a T-box riboswitch. In preparation.
- Bahmanjah et al., & Zhang (2017) Structural basis of functional repurposing of an aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase in stress response. In preparation.
- Hood et al., & Zhang (2017) Structural mimicry of codon-anticodon interactions by a viral noncoding RNA. In preparation.
- Zhang & Ferré-D’Amaré (2014) Dramatic improvement of crystals of large RNA by cation replacement and dehydration. Structure 22, 1363-1371.
- Zhang & Ferré-D’Amaré (2014) Direct evaluation of tRNA aminoacylation status by the T-box riboswitch using tRNA-mRNA stacking and steric readout. Molecular Cell 55, 148-155.
- Zhang & Ferré-D’Amaré (2013) Co-crystal structure of a T-box riboswitch stem I domain in complex with its cognate tRNA. Nature 500, 363-7.
The lab is part of the Earl Stadtman Investigator program for high-risk, high-impact research at the NIH intramural program consisting of 1100 labs. The well-supported lab has dedicated access to state-of-the-art equipment in structural biology (Mosquito, Dragonfly, Rock Imager, Akta Pures, FSEC, for X-ray crystallography; new Titan Krios for single-particle Cryo-EM; SAXS, AFM, etc), efficient biochemistry, biophysics (ITC, DSC, SPR, BLI, AUC, DLS, SEC-MALS, CD, fluorescence, thermophoresis, etc), fermentation, genomics, and proteomics core facilities with hands-on training or service by PhD-level staff scientists. The NIH, NIDDK, and LMB are committed to the continued education and career development of trainees through numerous courses and workshops offered by NIH OITE and FAES.
Requirements: Interested candidates must have received (or be expecting) a Ph.D. or M.D. within the past five years in molecular or structural biology, biochemistry, or biophysics, and be strongly self-motivated to lead innovative and rigorous research projects. Strong background in protein expression and purification, enzyme kinetics, and structural biology is desirable.
To apply: Please email a preferred start date, CV, a brief summary of research interests, accomplishments, and career goals, and names and contact information for at least three references to: Dr. Jinwei Zhang, Email: jinwei.zhang@nih.gov. The NIH is dedicated to building a diverse community and DHHS/NIH is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
