Postdoctoral Research Scientist

A Postdoctoral Research Scientist position in Computational Biology is available at the Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology (CTCN) in the Department of Neurology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York, NY.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join our computational team. Our overarching research goal at the CTCN is to identify and model molecular mechanisms that drive neurodegeneration, with a focus on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Our team develops and applies systems biology approaches to genome-wide, high-dimensional human data generated from large, well-characterized cohorts. These data are often multi-modal (genetic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, glycoproteomic), spanning various brain regions and peripheral tissues, and acquired at multiple resolutions (tissue-level, single-cell/nucleus, and spatial transcriptomic data), requiring complex integrative analyses. The successful candidate will lead the analysis of a large, newly generated dataset from cognitively and motor-relevant tissues (prefrontal cortex, motor cortex, spinal cord, muscle) to identify shared and distinct molecular pathways underlying cognitive and motor decline. Tissue donors underwent annual cognitive and motor testing ante-mortem and wore wearable sensors prior to death, making this dataset a uniquely rich resource for studying cognitive and motor impairment across tissues and brain regions.

The ideal candidate will have a quantitative background (bioinformatics, computational biology, biostatistics, statistics, computer science, or applied mathematics), a demonstrated interest in solving biological problems, and experience with analyzing large-scale genomic data. A Ph.D. in a quantitative discipline is required, but candidates with a Ph.D. in biology or neuroscience and extensive experience in quantitative methods will also be considered. The candidate should have good knowledge of one programming language used for computational modeling (for example, R, Python, or Matlab). Experience with graph modeling, Bayesian statistics, or causal inference is a plus.

The candidate will join an integrated team of computational scientists, molecular biologists, human immunologists, and clinician scientists who come together to perform team-based projects. Each postdoctoral researcher leads their own project, making the ability to work both independently and collaboratively essential. The position offers a stimulating, multi-disciplinary environment with opportunities to collaborate across institutions, including ongoing shared projects with the New York Genome Center and Rush University in Chicago.

A PhD is required

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Pay Transparency Disclosure

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.