Post-doctoral Research Fellowship in Cell and Tissue-inspired Soft Materials

Position: The Bioinspired Materials and Transduction Lab (http://ssarles.utk.edu) in the Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) seeks applicants for a postdoctoral position for work on the topic of cell and tissue-inspired soft materials. We are seeking highly motivated and creative applicants to contribute to an Office of Naval Research-funded, multi-year project that seeks to discover, test, and translate biological mechanisms into synthetic materials and structures that can dynamically adapt to high pressures in the ocean. Specifically, the team aims to test and explore the origins of the biological mechanisms (both molecular and macroscopic) that underlie the ability for deep sea snailfish to adapt to high pressures, pressure changes, and pressure differentials across material interfaces. 

Research at UTK for this project will pursue multiple directions that span topics in mechanobiology to bio-inspired materials engineering including: 1) the study of biomimetic protocells and tissues to understand how the underlying properties of their cellular membranes and tethering to near cytoskeleton components impacts pressure-tolerance, and 2) the development of bio-inspired pressure-tolerant material prototypes that leverage principles found in deep sea creatures. Along these fronts, we will leverage a variety of approaches including the assembly, imaging, and structural characterization of biomimetic membranes built from phospholipids or amphiphilic block copolymers and fabrication/testing of bio-inspired systems. We will also explore the use of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) at nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory for characterizing materials under high hydrostatic pressures. The project is a collaborative effort with researchers at several well-known universities, providing opportunities for collaboration between institutions. The broader team has a wealth of complementary expertise and includes biologists, bioengineers, and materials and mechanical engineers. UTK also benefits from close proximity to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which offers a wide variety of expertise, nanoscale fabrication, materials characterization, and computational modeling capabilities available through existing collaborations and established User programs.

The position is funded through a multi-year grant that includes salary and benefits. Salary is commensurate with experience.

 

Qualifications: A PhD in Engineering (e.g., Chemical, Biomedical, Electrical, Mechanical), Physics, or a related field is required. The ideal candidate will have an interdisciplinary research background in biological or bio-inspired materials, biomembrane assembly and characterization (including via fluorescence/confocal imaging, neutron scattering) and/or bio-inspired soft materials/tissues. Highly motivated candidates with strong analytical skills and proven technical writing abilities are desired. Priority will be given to those with experience in assembly of protocells/proto-tissues/materials, experimental design and data analysis, scientific programming for data analysis, and characterization of soft biological materials.

 

Applicants should email “ssarles@utk.edu” a single PDF file containing:

1) resume including past research experience and published work

2) one page statement of prior research experience

3) one page statement of future research interests and objectives

4) names of at least two individuals who can provide reference letters