Postdoctoral Scholar

Department Overview

The School of Dentistry shares the mission of the Oregon Health & Science University to provide educational programs, basic and clinical research, and high quality care and community programs. We strive to foster an environment of mutual respect where the free exchange of ideas can flourish. The dental school prepares graduates in general dentistry and the dental specialties to deliver compassionate and ethical oro-facial health care.

Read more about the School of Dentistry: OHSU School of Dentistry 

Function/Duties of Position

Postdoctoral Researcher – Bacterial Metabolomics and Type VII Secretion

The Momeni laboratory at Oregon Health & Science University is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to investigate novel bacterial metabolites related to Type VII Secretions systems. This position will support an NIH/NIDCR R56 project will expand our current oral bacterial metabolomics library and with further investigate which bacterial metabolites impact the Type VII secretion systems in various Streptococcal species.

The project combines oral microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, epidemiology, and bioinformatics. The desired candidate will perform metabolite and lipid extractions for addition of bacteria to the bacterial metabolite reference library as well as from clinical isolates, isolate and characterize novel bacterial metabolites, stress and/or genetical manipulate bacteria and use AI agents for rapid throughput analysis of large LC/MS data sets.

Primary responsibilities

• Culture streptococci and other oral bacteria to isolate and characterize bacterial metabolites.
• Perform complex data analysis on large LC/MS and lipidomics datasets to determine significant annotated, putative annotated, and non-annotated metabolites between species and for selection for further study.
• Create protocols for successful transformation of some oral bacteria.
• Determine which bacterial metabolites impact the function of Type VII secretion Systems in Streptococci
• Analyze and interpret experimental data and maintain detailed research records.
• Contribute to manuscripts, scientific presentations, and grant-related reports.
• Work collaboratively with investigators in microbiology, immunology, and oral health research

The position offers an opportunity to work at the at the forefront of novel bacterial metabolomics discovery while investigating the role of Type VII secretion in human diseases (e.g., childhood dental caries, cancer, infective endocarditis, meningitis).  The impact of this research will lead to new biomarkers for disease, discovery of new biochemical metabolites and potential new antimicrobial therapeutics. 

Required Qualifications

• PhD, MD, DDS, or an equivalent doctoral degree in immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, oral biology, or a related discipline.
• Experience with oral bacterial culture and biofilms, standard molecular biology techniques, LC/MS extractions, anaerobic cell culture.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and scientific communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary research team.

Preferred Qualifications

• • Experience with analysis of global metabolomics and lipidomics analysis tools, analysis with natural products databases (e.g., GNPS2), and able to incorporate AI into workflows.
  • Experience novel metabolite discovery and related softwares (e.g., Metaboanalyst, MassCube, MSDial) as well as management of large data sets for analysis, storage and dissemination. 
  • Knowledge of bacterial metabolomics, lipidomics and bacterial secretion systems.
  • Experience with bacterial culture, new bacterial transformation methods, host–microbe interactions, and/or oral microbiology.
  • A record of peer-reviewed publications.

Why apply to OHSU?

We are Oregon's only public academic health center. In addition to caring for patients, we lead groundbreaking research. We also train the next generation of health care professionals. As Portland's largest employer, we give you opportunities to learn and advance in a system of hospitals and clinics across Oregon and Southwest Washington. All are welcome. OHSU welcomes people of all ages, ethnicities, genders, national origins, religions and sexual orientations. We are striving to build an anti-racist, multicultural institution and encourage people with diverse backgrounds to apply. To request reasonable accommodation, contact [email protected]