Post-Doctoral Fellow - Zhou Lab (Immune Engineering & Immunotherapy)

The laboratory of Dr. Xiaoyu Zhou at The Wistar Institute is seeking a highly motivated Post-Doctoral Fellow to join a growing research program focused on immune engineering and cancer immunotherapy. Candidates who are intellectually curious, independent, and excited about building new tools and concepts in immunotherapy are encouraged to apply.

The Zhou Lab studies intercellular immune communication by integrating synthetic receptor engineering with functional genomics. Our long-term goal is to develop innovative immunotherapies for cancer and other immune-related diseases. Related publications include Nature Biomedical Engineering (2025; PMID: 40114032); Nature Immunology (2023; PMID: 37500885).

Some current research directions include:

• Developing next-generation gene editing platforms to enable high-content functional genomics and therapeutic target discovery
• Engineering synthetic and endogenous immune receptors to reprogram T cell function in solid tumors
• Combining experimental and computational approaches to interrogate immune signaling networks

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Cellular or Molecular Biology, Immunology, Genetics, Bioinformatics, or a related field. Competitive candidates will have expertise in CRISPR-based gene editing and functional genomics, T cell engineering and/or immune receptor biology, and/or computational or quantitative data analysis.

The Wistar Institute is located in the University City area of Philadelphia, in the heart of the University of Pennsylvania Campus. Wistar provides resources to its faculty and staff that enable them to conduct cutting edge collaborative research and provides for outstanding intellectual environments and state-of-the-art facilities.

Dr. Zhou is committed to providing close scientific mentorship, emphasizing rigorous experimental design, clear scientific communication, and career development tailored to each trainee’s goals. Postdoctoral fellows in the Zhou Lab will receive support in managing research projects, writing grant and fellowship applications, manuscript preparation, and conference presentations, and will be encouraged to build independent research directions that position them for successful careers in academia, industry, or related fields.

Interested individuals should apply online and in addition submit the following as one single PDF file to Dr. Xiaoyu Zhou, [email protected]:

• CV with publication list (published and in preparation)
• A one-page cover letter describing scientific interests, career goals, and potential postdoctoral project interests
• Names and contact information for three references

We offer a competitive salary and excellent benefits package.

For more information about The Wistar Institute visit our website at

It is the policy of the Institute to provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals regardless of race, citizenship, ethnicity, color, creed, religion, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, veteran status, mental or physical disability (including HIV and AIDS), pregnancy, caregiver status, domestic or sexual violence victim status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or on the basis of genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law, with respect to all terms and conditions of employment.