A Postdoctoral Research Opportunity is available at the University of California, San Francisco, in the laboratory of Iwei Yeh.

We are looking for an outstanding cancer biologist who is proactive, independent and collaborative. Our multidisciplinary group works closely with the laboratory of Boris Bastian and focuses on defining histopathologic and genomic subsets of melanoma and understanding their biology. The R01 funded project will focus on the role of NF1 and SPRED1 in melanoma. The fellow will lead key aspects of the project including developing cell-line based and mouse models of NF1 or SPRED1 inactivated melanoma, performing experiments to understand the underlying biochemistry, and identifying therapeutic strategies. The postdoctoral research opportunity will expose the fellow to translational work developing patient derived xenografts in collaboration with the melanoma oncology group as well as cancer genetics and bioinformatics.

Responsibilities:

• Develop genetically engineered melanocyte and melanoma cell lines to interrogate NF1 and SPRED1 biology in melanoma.
• Determine response of patient derived xenografts and cell lines to targeted therapies and perform drug screens.
• Oversee the development and evaluation of a mouse model of KIT mutant melanoma.
• Evaluate genetic data for NF1 and SPRED1 inactivated melanomas to identify co-occurring mutations that may cooperate.