Important Info
Please submit your application directly to Dr. Kacper Rogala at rogala@stanford.edu.
Postdoctoral positions are available in the Rogala Lab at Stanford University — https://rogala.stanford.edu.
Rogala Lab is a part of Stanford’s Department of Structural Biology and the Department of Chemical & Systems Biology. We are based in the Biomedical Innovations Building on the main Stanford campus, and our lab plays an integral role in the Stanford Cancer Institute, where we lead the development of structure-based approaches to novel cancer therapeutics.
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We have open positions for dynamic post-doctoral candidates who exhibit exceptional dedication and a strong drive to discover fundamental mechanisms of proteins. Projects in the lab focus on proteins involved in nutrient sensing and nutrient trafficking — integral membrane transporters and large signaling complexes that assemble on biological membranes.
We are specifically looking for two types of candidates:
- Structural biologists — Embark on the most challenging structural projects, pushing the boundaries of what can be accomplished with cryo-EM and other structural and biophysical techniques.
- Protein biochemists / Cell biologists — Bring your own unique expertise to our lab and lead us into uncharted territories. We will train you in our structural and chemical biology approaches, enhancing your skill set and equipping you with tools to tackle challenging biological problems at many different scales.
In general, if you are a highly motivated individual who thrives on cracking difficult biological mechanisms and wants to use that knowledge to advance our shared mission of combating cancer, then this is the perfect lab environment for you. You will find like-minded colleagues here — we are hungry for discovery and we want to make a positive impact on patients’s lives. We set the compensation of our postdocs to the Stanford rates, and we strongly encourage the candidates to explore applying for extramural fellowships and grants to support their research endeavors.
WHY JOIN THE ROGALA LAB?
Joining a young lab like ours offers distinct advantages. You will have the opportunity to take ownership of near-complete projects, driving them to completion and publication as the first author. Simultaneously, we provide resources, support, and mentorship to initiate new projects from scratch, fostering your scientific growth. Our lab is friendly to postdocs from all walks of life, and we cherish trust, inclusiveness and intellectual curiosity. Your success is integral to our collective success, and we foster a growth mindset among all our trainees. Training and skills development are paramount in our lab, and by the end of your postdoctoral training you can expect to have gained mastery in either cryo-EM or X-rax crystallography, plus be able to carry out biophysical, biochemical, and cell biology investigation of protein mechanisms in vitro and in cells. Through collaboration, a strong work ethic, soliciting feedback, and embracing new strategies, our team cultivates an environment of innovation, facilitating 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 their transport across cellular and intracellular membranes regulated? And, how is nutrient sensing integrated with other chemical signals, such as growth factors, to determine cellular decisions, especially the decision: to grow or not to grow? We are aiming to answer these fundamental questions at the level of ångstroms, nanometers, and micrometers — with cryo-EM, X-ray crystallography, and a full range of other techniques that span biology, chemistry, physics, and computation. Many proteins in nutrient signaling pathways are deregulated in cancer, and in parallel to the mechanistic structural work, we are also developing targeted chemical probes to modulate activity of these proteins in cells and organisms.
Our latest papers on this topic are:
- Valenstein and Rogala et al. (2022) Structure of the nutrient-sensing hub GATOR2. Nature, 607(7919):610-616. PMID: 35831510 // Paywall-free article.
- Rogala et al. (2019) Structural basis for the docking of mTORC1 on the lysosomal surface. Science, 366(6464):468-475. PMID: 31601708 [open-access].
- Shen and Rogala et al. (2019) Cryo-EM structure of the human FLCN-FNIP2-Rag-Ragulator complex. Cell, 179(6):1319-1329.e8. PMID: 31704029 [open-access].
EDUCATION
- PhD-level wet-lab scientists, with experience in managing an independent research project to completion and publication.
- Background in structural biology / biophysics / protein biochemistry / cell biology — or related fields.
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
- Positive attitude with a problem-solving mindset.
- Ability to learn quickly and to work well both independently and as part of a team.
- Ability to work effectively with a wide variety of people from all backgrounds.
- Ability to train, mentor, and supervise research technicians, students, and other entry-level lab staff.
- Very good communication skills in English.
- High level of professionalism and developed interpersonal skills.
Potential candidates, please include the following items as part of your application:
- A cover letter including: (1) a summary of your previous research experience, (2) the reason why you decided to apply to our lab, (3) and the reason why we should consider you for this position (e.g. what expertise / ideas can you bring to our lab).
- Your curriculum vitae.
- Names and contact information to three reference writers.
