Open Postdoctoral position, faculty mentor Kacper Rogala

Membrane Protein Biochemistry and/or Cryo‑EM (Rogala Lab, Stanford) — https://rogala.stanford.edu.

Rogala Lab is a part of Stanford’s Department of Structural Biology, the Department of Chemical & Systems Biology, and the Stanford Cancer Institute. Our research focuses on two core questions: (i) how cells control their metabolism in response to nutrients, and (ii) how nutrient‑deprived cancer cells evade death by scavenging nutrients from their environment. We are structural and chemical biologists investigating signaling at biological membranes, with a particular emphasis on nutrient transporters and large peripheral membrane complexes involved in nutrient sensing.

We are seeking highly motivated postdoctoral scientists with a start‑up mentality and a passion for uncovering fundamental mechanisms of protein function. Applicants should have strong expertise in (A) membrane protein biochemistry and/or (B) cryo‑EM / cryo‑ET (hybrid candidates are welcome). Postdoc compensation follows Stanford rates and includes a comprehensive benefits package with full health insurance coverage.

WHY JOIN THE ROGALA LAB?

You will have close scientific support from your PI, with an emphasis on driving your projects to first‑author publication. Our lab is friendly to trainees from all walks of life, and we cherish trust, collegiality and intellectual curiosity, where no question is too big to study, as long as we have the right approach and a unique angle. Most importantly, our lab operates with a growth mindset for all of our trainees, and we put a heavy emphasis on training and skills development — across a wide range of experimental and computational techniques. And through collaboration, strong work ethic, seeking feedback, and trying out new strategies, we drive innovation and novel discoveries for our team.

RESEARCH IN THE LAB

We are a team of structural and chemical biologists fascinated by how cells control their metabolism in response to nutrients. How are nutrients recognized by their protein sensors? How is transport across cellular and intracellular membranes regulated? And how is nutrient sensing integrated with other signals, such as growth factors, to determine cellular decisions—especially the decision to grow or not to grow? We aim to answer these questions across scales (ångstroms, nanometers, micrometers) using cryo‑EM, X‑ray crystallography, and complementary biochemical, biophysical, and cell biology techniques. Many proteins in nutrient signaling pathways are dysregulated in cancer, and in parallel with mechanistic structural work, we develop targeted chemical probes to modulate their activity in cells and organisms.

We primarily work on proteins associated with biological membranes — large peripheral membrane complexes and integral membrane transporters.

Selected recent work:

• Taylor, Chen, Hancock, & Wranik et al. (2025) Structural basis for the recruitment and selective phosphorylation of Akt by mTORC2. Science, PMID: 41308123.
• Valenstein & Wranik et al. (2025) Structural basis for the dynamic regulation of mTORC1 by amino acids. Nature, PMID: 40836086.
• (REVIEW) Linde-Garelli & Rogala (2023) Structural mechanisms of the mTOR pathway. Current Opinion in Structural Biology, PMID: 37572585.
• Valenstein & Rogala et al. (2022) Structure of the nutrient-sensing hub GATOR2. Nature, PMID: 35831510.