1. Proposed Job Description

Applications are invited for Postdoc in Dr. Ma’s Lab of in Syracuse Biomaterials Institute and Department of Biomedical & Chemical Engineering, Syracuse University. Dr. Ma's System Tissue Engineering & Morphogenesis (STEM) lab (myheart.syr.edu) focuses on tissue engineering, organ-on-chip system and human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for cardiovascular applications.
The work will consist of microfluidics and microdevices fabrication, stem cell culture and differentiation, generation of cardiac microtissues for drug screening purpose. An ideal candidate should have experience with AutoCAD for design of microfluidic devices, photolithography, soft-lithography and etching for fabricating microdevices. The candidate will culture iPS cells, differentiate them into cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells, and characterize the cell types using immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry. The candidate will generate the cardiac microtissues using iPS-derived cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells within the microdevices through pumping system. The candidate will examine the micro tissues through both epifluorescent microscope and confocal microscope, study the electrophysiology and contractile behaviors, and also sacrifice the microtissues for western blotting and qPCR analysis. The successful candidate should be highly dedicated individual who is self-driven to excel in scholarly research.

2. Major Responsibility

1. Design, fabrication and characterization of microfluidics and microdevices
2. Culture and differentiate human iPS cells into cardiac cells
3. Generate the cardiac microtissues in the microdevices, analyze microtissue contractile functions, and
perform molecular biology studies
4. Collect, analyze and interpret experimental data
5. Write scientific publications and help PI on grant applications
6. Train less experienced personnel in the group

Please contact: Zhen Ma PhD. Email: zma112@syr.edu