Post-Doc Trainee (Raffield Lab)

About the job

Be a Tar Heel!

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation’s top public universities and is among is the top ten research universities in the nation for federal research expenditures as well as for federally funded social and behavioral sciences research and development.

Here at Carolina, our highly skilled postdocs play a vital role in our research enterprise and towards our overall commitment to research excellence. Across many disciplines, postdocs contribute to the intellectual vitality of the University. They provide innovative ideas and perspectives, foster a stimulating research environment and advance knowledge within their fields. Postdocs are crucial members of our scientific research workforce, contributors to our research outputs and an important reason why Carolina is one of the leading public research institutions in the country.

UNC-Chapel Hill offers postdocs comprehensive medical and vision coverage, paid leave, and benefits and services that support professional development and a healthy work/life balance. Chapel Hill regularly ranks as one of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, a reputation guided by the diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education and research.

Patient care: We promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.

Education: We prepare tomorrow`s healthcare professionals and biomedical researchers from all backgrounds by facilitating learning within innovative and integrated curricula and team-oriented interprofessional education to ensure a highly skilled workforce.

Research: We develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers and resources. We provide infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration among disciplines throughout and beyond our university to support outstanding research. We foster programs in the areas of basic, translational, mechanistic and population research.

Position Summary

The Raffield lab in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Department of Genetics is seeking a candidate for Postdoctoral Research Trainee with a background in Human Genetics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, or a related field. The individual will be responsible for large-scale genomic and multi-omic analyses of traits related to cardiometabolic disease and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias across populations.

Our lab has expertise in analysis of large-scale genomic and multi-omic data, including genome-wide association studies and analysis of transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data. The successful candidate will join strong existing collaborative projects of scientists at multiple institutions across the US and globally. The UNC Department of Genetics ranked first in NIH funding among Genetics departments in 2025 and provides a collegial, supportive mentoring environment. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and will be equal to or exceed NIH postdoctoral stipends. Medical insurance and benefits will be in accordance with UNC standard postdoctoral benefits (https://research.unc.edu/postdocs/). In addition to outstanding research training, postdoctoral scholars are encouraged to participate in professional development opportunities offered through BioSTAR and the UNC Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. These programs support leadership development, scientific communication, grant writing, networking, and career exploration.

Postdoctoral trainees will have the opportunity to lead multiple projects and would work with Dr. Raffield to create a multi-year plan to maximize scientific productivity, pursue independent grant funding, and progress towards an independent career. Potential projects include:

Leadership in cross-cohort ‘omics analyses in NHLBI’s Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Initiative. Analysis of bulk and single cell gene expression QTLs, metabolomics QTLs, and protein QTLs (across multiple platforms) in blood/plasma across populations, including local ancestry differentiated QTLs and variance QTLs, and subsequent colocalization with known cardiometabolic, blood, and dementia related loci Genetic and epidemiological analysis of inflammation and thrombosis related biomarkers for cardiometabolic disease and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

PhD in Genetics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics/Statistics, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, or a related field

Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

Individual with strong scientific communication skills who is highly motivated by team science and is enthusiastic about pursuing multicenter collaborative projects.

Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

The candidate should have experience analyzing large genomic datasets and/or experience with epidemiological analysis in cohort and biobank studies, particularly for high throughput ’omics datasets (metabolomics, proteomics, etc). Experience working with large datasets on high performance computing clusters or cloud computing environments is a plus.

Special Physical/Mental Requirements

This position is funded by a sponsored postdoctoral training program, and all applicants must be either a US citizen, non-citizen national or permanent resident with evidence of superior academic performance, previous research or clinical experience and publications.

Special Instructions

Please see Special Instructions for more details.

This position is funded by a sponsored postdoctoral training program, and all applicants must be either a US citizen, non-citizen national or permanent resident with evidence of superior academic performance, previous research or clinical experience and publications.

Please attach a CV and cover letter including a brief statement of research interests.

For information on UNC Postdoctoral Benefits and Services click here

Postdoctoral Affairs Contact Information

If you experience any problems accessing the system or have questions about the application process, please contact the University’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at (919) 962-9982 or send an email to opahr@unc.edu.

Please note: The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs will not be able to provide specific updates regarding position or application status.