Postdoctoral Research Associate

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About Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture, IHA

The Texas A&M AgriLife, IHA, is the world’s first academic institute to bring together precision nutrition, responsive agriculture, and social and behavioral research to reduce diet-related chronic disease and lower health care costs in a way that supports producers and the environment.

• Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture

Texas A&M AgriLife is comprised of the following Texas A&M University System members:

• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

• Texas A&M AgriLife Research

• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University

• Texas A&M Forest Service

• Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory

As the nation’s largest most comprehensive agriculture program, Texas A&M AgriLife brings together a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences within The Texas A&M University System. With over 5,000 employees and a presence in every county across the state, Texas A&M AgriLife is uniquely positioned to improve lives, environments and the Texas economy through education, research, extension and service.

Click here to learn more about how you can be a part of AgriLife and make a difference in the world!

Position Information

We are seeking highly motivated postdoctoral fellows to join our dynamic team with broad focus areas in prevention of diet-related chronic diseases, plant genetics & biofortification and mechanistic studies in nutrition-health associations. The candidates will collaborate with USDA-ARS scientists at the Responsive Agricultural Food Systems Research Unit (RAFSRU) co-housed at the Texas A&M AgriLife, IHA. Our research environment is guided by collaboration, mentorship, and a supportive culture that encourages personal and professional growth.

Background:

The research focus of the Responsive Agricultural Food Systems Research Unit (RAFSRU) is conducted under the USDA ARS Human Nutrition National Program (NP107). The unit’s mission is to prevent and mitigate nutrition-associated chronic diseases through innovations in the food and nutrition environment. RAFSRU conducts targeted research on human health and nutrition across all life stages, generating fundamental knowledge on the interplay among agriculture, food systems, the environment, and human health.

Current nutrition-centered preclinical and human studies aim to understand the effects of maternal obesity and other forms of malnutrition, linking diet and nutrition to chronic disease prevention. These studies employ both pre-clinical models and human nutrition approaches. The selected postdoctoral fellow will investigate the health impacts of novel, biofortified foods such as anthocyanin-enriched staples and vegetables on metabolic dysfunction and inflammation.

Responsibilities:

• Develops hypotheses-driven studies to examine the effects of specific diet and diet components on health outcomes using preclinical or clinical approaches.

• Conducts mechanistic studies on how specific food components impact health outcomes.

• Develops methods to link food nutrition environment with health outcomes.

• Develops novel hypothesis, experimental approaches & data analysis methods.

• In consultation with the PI, designs and executes experiments.

• Performs advanced statistical analysis of research experiments and results.

• Leads the writing and communication of research-based peer-reviewed publications.

• Supervises and provides training to junior- and mid-level technical support staff, graduate students, and/or undergraduate students.

• Follows appropriate laboratory safety procedures for handling, disposing of and keeping inventory of hazardous chemicals.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD degree in any of the following: preclinical or clinical nutrition, physiology, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, endocrinology, reproduction or epidemiology obtained within 5 years.

• Ability to work independently.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

• Desire and ability to work collaboratively and help maintain a supportive environment for all team members.

• Highly organized and detail oriented.

• Ability to multi-task and establish effective working relationships.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with animal models of diet-induced obesity, metabolic syndrome, or cardiovascular disease and nutritional interventions.

• Expertise in human nutrition studies in any one of the areas (cohort-based analyses, conducting feeding trials, assessments of diet intake, food systems analysis).

• Precision nutrition studies (-omic analysis of biomarkers, etc.)

Other Requirements:

• Ability to lift or move light, moderate, and heavy objects. Ability to exert light force.

• Work beyond normal office hours and/or work on weekends as needed.

What You Need to Know

Salary: Compensation for this position is commensurate based on the selected candidate’s qualifications.  

Position Funding: This position is funded from a grant and/or contract funding which is renewed under the provisions of the grantor of the contract. This initial position is limited to 2 years upon hire date. Your position, therefore, is contingent upon continuation of funding of these grants and/or contracts and your satisfactory job performance.

Why Work at Texas A&M AgriLife?

When you choose to work for Texas A&M AgriLife, you become part of an organization that is an established leader in agriculture and life sciences with a wide range of capabilities to meet the needs of our statewide, national, and international constituents.

In addition, Texas A&M AgriLife offers a comprehensive benefit package including the following:

• Health, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance with Texas A&M AgriLife contributing to employee health and basic life premiums 

• 12-15 days of annual paid holidays  

• Up to eight hours of paid sick leave and at least eight hours of paid vacation each month

• Automatic enrollment in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas  

• Employee Wellness Initiative for Texas A&M AgriLife

Applicant Instructions

Applications received by Texas A&M AgriLife must either have all job application data entered or a resume attached. Failure to provide all job application data or a complete resume could result in an invalid submission and a rejected application. We encourage all applicants to upload a resume or use a LinkedIn profile to prepopulate the online application.

Required Documents:

CV/ Resume

Cover letter

List of references

Certifications/ additional documentation

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution’s verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution’s procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Veterans/Disability Employer.