Postdoc position: In vivo single-cell CRISPR screening

The Laboratory for Biological Engineering (Prof. Randall J Platt) of the ETH Zurich in Basel, Switzerland develops genome engineering technologies and applies them to a range of fundamental and disease-focused areas. To advance these efforts, the Platt group is recruiting a full-time (100%) Postoctoral Associate to develop and apply in vivo single-cell CRISPR screening methods.

Single-cell CRISPR screening methods such as Perturb-seq, CROP-seq, and ECCITE-seq are revolutionising our capacity to investigate gene function in high throughput and at high resolution. We recently developed an AAV-based method for direct in vivo single-cell CRISPR screening (Santinha, Nature, 2023) and are continuing to improve and apply this method to generate in vivo cell type perturbation atlases, interrogate disease mechanisms, and identify therapeutic drug targets.

We are looking for a highly motivated and collaborative researcher to join us in advancing these efforts. The candidate will work as part of a multidisciplinary team and be passionate about science, technology, collaboration, and communication.

The ideal candidate should have a PhD degree in Biological Engineering, Molecular Biotechnology, Molecular Medicine, (Quantitative) Biology or a related field. The successful candidate will have experience across several of the following areas:

• cloning, molecular biology techniques and synthetic biology
• virus production and/or evolution and delivery (AAV, LV)
• in vivo interrogation of mouse models, including histological techniques, imaging and quantification
• primary cell isolation, cell culture, and flow cytometry
• preparation of deep sequencing libraries for functional genomics experiments
• bioinformatics, statistics, and programming

The candidate must have a strong motivation and interest in collaboration with multidisciplinary scientists. They must be able to communicate effectively in a highly interdisciplinary and international environment, which includes a mastery of oral and written English as well as scientific illustration.

The position is located in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) of the ETH Zurich in Basel, Switzerland. The D-BSSE is a highly interdisciplinary department – specializing in biological engineering, systems and synthetic biology, bioinformatics and data science, and engineering sciences related to microfluidics and microfabrication. The D-BSSE is centrally located within a biomedical research hub with close links to top academic institutions (e.g., Friedrich Miescher Institute (FMI), Biozentrum and University of Basel) as well as major biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies (e.g., Novartis, Roche, Bayer, and Lonza). The ETH Zurich is a global leader in science and technology and consistently ranks as one of the top universities in the world. Basel, Switzerland is an international city on the border with France and Germany – nested between the Swiss alps and the black forest. The city provides easy access to arts and culture, nature and adventure, and short commutes via train/plain/automobile to anywhere in Europe.