Dr. Jie Xu’s lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is recruiting two full-time Postdoctoral Researchers. Postdoctoral fellows will conduct research in the areas of Cancer Epigenomics and Single-Cell Technologies. As a newly established laboratory, we offer exceptional opportunities for postdocs to take strong leadership and ownership of projects, receive close mentorship, and help shape innovative research directions.
Dr. Xu’s lab is also actively recruiting PhD students and visiting scholars. For inquiries, please contact:
jie_xu@med.unc.edu
Research Directions
The Xu Lab focuses on three interconnected research domains aimed at resolving heterogeneous transcriptional regulation in cancer:
1. Working closely with cancer biologists and clinicians, we study the epigenetic mechanisms underlying heterogeneous cancer and immune cell behaviors and variable therapeutic responses. Using unique genetic approaches, including Paired-TF developed by Dr. Xu, we simultaneously assess epigenetic programs and transcriptional outcomes to identify regulatory mechanisms that can be leveraged to target cancer cells and enhance anti-tumor immunity.
2. Development of novel, useful, and cost-effective single-cell technologies that jointly profile multiple modalities within the same cancer cells, enabling the tracking of regulatory and transcriptional evolution across disease stages, such as primary tumors, metastases, and relapse.
3. Investigation of transcriptional silencer regulation. We previously discovered that aberrant gain of transcriptional silencers is prevalent in cancer and contributes to oncogenesis, yet their functional consequences and regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. We integrate CRISPR-based perturbation with single-cell readouts to systematically interrogate silencer function and regulation at scale, with the ultimate goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets.
Position Description
Postdoctoral researchers will lead research projects, with specialization in either wet-lab experimentation or dry-lab computational analysis, present their work at international conferences, prepare research manuscripts, and participate in grant applications when appropriate.
Qualifications
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Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, Biochemical and Cellular Sciences, Genetics and Genomics, Bioinformatics, or a related field (degree must be conferred before the start date).
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For wet-lab applicants: Ph.D.-level training and research experience in genomics, genetics, or multi-omics is preferred.
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For dry-lab applicants: Ph.D.-level training and research experience in analyzing multi-omic next-generation sequencing data is required.
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Experience with genome editing technologies such as CRISPR is a plus.
Lab Introduction
Dr. Jie Xu has led multiple research programs, including deciphering chromatin architectural remodeling and silencer gain in leukemia, advancing the detection of large-scale cancer genomic variation, and developing innovative single-cell technologies, exemplified by Paired-TF (unpublished), which overcame the previous challenges and enabled joint mapping of transcription-factor binding and the transcriptome within the same cell. She is a leading author on publications in Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Methods, and Nature Cell Biology.
The lab is part of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Department of Genetics. Lineberger is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center with broad expertise spanning basic science to clinical translation. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is consistently ranked among the top U.S. and global research universities, providing a highly collaborative and supportive research environment.
Additional Information
Start date: January–August 2026 (flexible)
How to apply
Please email your CV and research statement to
jie_xu@med.unc.edu.
Please indicate in the email that you are applying for the Postdoctoral Researcher position.
