Job offers

The Graves lab is looking for a postdoctoral fellow to study how cellular senescence and inflammation interact to drive age-associated tissue pathology, with a focus on periodontal disease and bone resorption. The project combines a periodontal mouse model and human tissue validation with single-cell RNA-seq and 10x Genomics Xenium spatial transcriptomics. Central to the work is the experimental identification and manipulation of senescent cells, including SASP and p16/p21 pathways, supported by genetically engineered mouse models, primary cell cultures, molecular perturbations, histology, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry and quantitative imaging.

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The fellow will have substantial ownership of the project, lead first-author manuscripts, contribute to grant writing and is encouraged to apply for independent fellowships. Experimental candidates can build computational skills (R/Seurat), and computational candidates can gain wet-lab experience.

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Requirements: PhD, MD, DMD, DVM or equivalent in cell/molecular biology, immunology, skeletal biology, genomics, bioinformatics or a related field. Prior experience in cellular senescence is strongly preferred; experience in aging/inflammation, mouse models, scRNA-seq or spatial transcriptomics is a plus.

Funding: multiple NIH R01 grants through 2031
Start date: immediately after interviews and reference review
How to apply: CV, a short statement of research experience and future interests, and contacts of three referees, via Interfolio
Contact: Jen East – jeneast@upenn.edu
Posted: 18 September 2026​