The Viny lab @cohesinlab is looking for motivated and courageous postdoctoral scientists to join our small but mighty group. @cohesinlab will open next month at @ColumbiaMed @columbiacancer & @CSCIColumbia (1/15)

We will focus on employing new and existing mouse models, primary patient samples, and state-of-the-art epigenomic/transcriptional assays for assessing 3-dimensional chromatin structure in the malignant context. These are the core principles by which we will operate: (2/15)

1. We are and will always be focused on improving the lives of the patients afflicted with cancer. Yes, we will work hard to secure grants and papers but those are simply the means to achieve our primary mission (3/15)

2. Mentorship was and is essential to my success and will be prioritized at all levels. We will all be working hard to achieve principle #1 and the fruits of your efforts will be attentive and personal mentorship and career development both in science and in humanism. (4/15)

3. We will maintain and celebrate diversity and will lead by example. We will engage the black and Latinx high school communities to bring in a paid summer intern each summer. Other ways for how we can positively impact the interface of science & social justice welcomed (5/15)

4. Trust in each other will be paramount. The culture of the lab will be one of collegiality and rigor—people who “play well together in the sandbox” but challenge each other to elevate our science (6/15)

5. Science is hard. We will build a lab community to celebrate our successes, and importantly be attentive and support each other through challenges, burnout, self-doubt. These are real pitfalls to career development and personal “wholeness”. We are a team (7/14)

6. We promise to be a fun, supportive, and occasionally irreverent group (maybe more than occasionally...) with a true “all for one and one for all” approach to science and career development. (8/15)

That is who @cohesinlab is. This is what we’ll do: (9/15)

A. Uncover mechanisms of altered 3D chromatin in the pathophysiology of leukemia and other human cancer. We will leverage patient samples and transgenic mice to model and manipulate hematopoietic differentiation (10/15)

B. Investigate the dynamic epigenetic events that dictate hematopoietic stem cell fate determination and influence of chromatin state on transcriptional output. We will primarily use benchmarked low cell input chromatin assays on sorted cell populations. (11/15)

C. Understand the non-hierarchical, non-redundant relationship between chromatin structure and transcription factor activity. Apply principles of DNA accessibility and insulation to other cellular contexts. (12/15)

D. Tease out the basis for tissue specific DNA loop memory—CTCF binding sites hardwired in the genome cannot account for dynamic sub-TAD loop structure in response to stress/cytokine/differentiation. (13/15)

E. Identify synthetic lethal targets and/or manipulate chromatin loops for therapeutic purposes. (14/15)

Help us revolutionize how we treat cancer and understand the impact of chromatin 3D structure on cellular programming and function! 1-2 postdoctoral scientist positions are available. Please send cover letter and CV to adv2105(at) http://cumc.columbia.edu  (15/15)