Postdoctoral Scholar in Vascular Mechanobiology and Inflammation at UCLA and Doheny Eye Institute

Postdoctoral Position in Vascular Mechanobiology and Inflammation at UCLA and Doheny Eye Institute

A postdoctoral position in the mechanobiology of vascular inflammation is available in the laboratory of Professor Kaustabh Ghosh at UCLA and Doheny Eye Institute. With funding from the NIH and private foundations, the Ghosh Research Group is committed to developing effective therapies for vision-threatening vascular defects in the eye.

Job Description

This position will focus on the early stages of diabetic retinopathy (DR), a major microvascular and vision-threatening complication of diabetes. Currently, DR is clinically managed only in its advanced stage that is marked by excessive multiplication and leakiness of blood vessels in the inner retina. However, there is growing recognition that more effective treatment of DR is possible by tackling it in the early stages when the retinal blood vessels degenerate.

The Ghosh Lab is taking a multidisciplinary approach to understand and prevent this early loss of retinal vessels in diabetes. Integrating the principles of vascular biology, mechanobiology, inflammation, and bioengineering, their work has introduced a new paradigm that implicates vascular 'stiffness' as a crucial determinant of vascular degeneration associated with early DR. Their ongoing studies aim to identify the factors that alter vascular stiffness in the eye and uncover the mechanobiological mechanisms by which altered stiffness causes vascular loss in diabetes. These studies, funded by the National Eye Institute/NIH and private foundations, have the potential to identify new classes of drugs that restore normal vascular stiffness and function in the eye and thereby block DR progression in their early stages.

To drive this innovative research forward, we are looking for motivated individuals to perform multidisciplinary research involving animal and cell culture models of DR, and principles and techniques related to vascular biology, mechanobiology, and inflammation.

Requirements

• Candidates must be a recent (or soon-to-be) Ph.D. graduate or a junior postdoctoral fellow in biomedical sciences/engineering, or related field.
• The successful applicant will have a strong research background in cell/molecular biology and biochemistry, and a record of first-authored publications.
• Previous experience with mammalian cell culture, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry is desirable.

Environment

UCLA is an elite research university that is part of the prestigious University of California system. U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked UCLA's Department of Ophthalmology and Doheny Eye Institute among the top 5 in the nation for vision research and care. U.S. News & World Report also ranked UCLA 13th among all universities in the world (2025 Global Ranking). State-of-the-art facilities for proteomics, genomics, transgenic mice, retinal imaging and functional assessment, cellular mechanobiology, confocal imaging, and flow cytometry are all available for the project.

Candidates must be a recent (or soon-to-be) Ph.D. graduate or a junior postdoctoral fellow in biomedical sciences/engineering, or related field. The successful applicant will have a strong research background in cell/molecular biology and biochemistry, and a record of first-authored publications. Previous experience with mammalian cell culture, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry is desirable.

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As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
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