Research in the Jaffrey lab is highly interdisciplinary, with projects involving molecular biology, neuroscience, chemical biology, and/or imaging.  Postdocs get a unique opportunity to be exposed to research questions and techniques in the forefront of various fields.  This type of training environment is exceptionally valuable for individuals who are interested in pursuing careers in academia or scientific leadership positions in the pharmaceutical industry.

Each of the projects provide the opportunity for considerable creativity and innovation and applicants with these skills are also especially encouraged to apply.  The wide range of research topics in the Jaffrey lab makes it an excellent environment for interdisciplinary training.  The laboratory environment is highly collegial and interactive, so excellent written and oral communication skills are a must.

Cornell University's Weill Medical College is located in Manhattan's Upper East Side, immediately adjacent to the Sloan Kettering Institute and Rockefeller University. This "tri-institutional campus" includes several hundred principal investigators and postdocs, and has one of the highest densities of biomedical scientists in the world. This rich scientific environment provides unique and unparalleled research training opportunities, including research seminars given by leaders in science from throughout the U.S. and abroad, opportunities for collaborations, exposure to diverse research programs, and highly sophisticated core facilities.

Members of the Jaffrey lab have received prestigious fellowships, including the Damon Runyon, Life Sciences, EMBO, the NIH K99 Pathway to independence award.  After leaving the Jaffrey laboratory, former postdocs have been very successful.  Several have moved on to independent academic faculty positions throughout the United States, China and Europe.  Other laboratory members have moved on to leadership positions in Pharma or have started biotechnology companies.

Questions about the positions described below, and/or applications, comprising a CV, statement of research interests, and contact information for three references, should be e-mailed to Dr. Samie Jaffrey at jaffreylab2 at gmail.com.  A hard copy of the application is not recommended.

Several positions are currently available:

RNA Molecular Biology: N6-Methyladenosine Postdoctoral Positions

In addition to the canonical nucleotides (A, C, G, U), researchers in the 1970's showed that mRNA also contains a fifth base, N6-methyladenosine (m6A).  In 2012, our laboratory developed MeRIP-Seq (methyl RNA-immunoprecipitation sequencing), the first method to map m6A throughout the transcriptome.  Our study is often credited as having given birth to the field of "epitranscriptomics," a term that we coined in our 2012 paper.  Epitranscriptomics refers to the concept that mRNA and lncRNA contain a layer of information beyond their encoded nucleotide sequence. This information is stored in nucleotide modifications—usually methylation—that are often ‘invisible’ to ribosomes and reverse transcriptase enzymes. As a result, they do not change the amino acid sequence of the encoded protein, but instead affect translation initiation, stability, localization, or function of RNAs.

MeRIP-Seq has now been used by laboratories throughout the world to reveal the dynamics and function of m6A mRNA modification in cancer, viral infection, development, and diverse physiologic pathways.  Over 200 m6A datasets have been generated.  The MeRIP-Seq method and the subsequent mRNA modification mapping technologies developed by us and others was recently named Nature Method's "Method of the Year" for 2016.

In addition to developing m6A mapping technologies, we have established functional roles for m6A, most notably in mediating “cap-independent” translation, a form of mRNA translation that predominates in various stress and disease states, such as cancer.  We have also determined how m6A is detected in mRNA by identifying "m6A readers."   These studies showed that one m6A reader is eIF3, a key protein controlling the initiation of translation initiation.  We have also defined critical components of “m6A writer” complex, establishing RBM15 and RBM15B as the critical proteins that direct methylation in the transcriptome.  Lastly, we have established that m6A has critical functions in mediating the effects of noncoding RNAs, such as XIST, which mediates X-chromosome inactivation.

Our initial work on m6A was described in Cell (Meyer, K.D., Saletore, Y., Zumbo, P., Elemento, O., Mason, C.E., Jaffrey, S.R.  Comprehensive analysis of mRNA methylation reveals enrichment in 3' UTRs and near stop codons, Cell, 149:1635-1646, 2012), and includes numerous follow-up studies.  Some of these are listed below:

Meyer, K.D., Patil, D.P., Zhou, J., Zinoviev, A., Skabkin, M.A., Elemento, O., Pestova, T.V., Qian, S.-B., Jaffrey, S.R.  5'UTR m6A promotes cap-independent translation.  Cell, 163:999-1010, 2015.

Linder, B., Grozhik, A.V., Olarerin-George, A.O., Meydan, C., Mason, C.E., Jaffrey, SR. Single-nucleotide-resolution mapping of m6A and m6Am throughout the transcriptome.  Nature Methods, 12:767-772, 2015. 

Patil, D.P., Chen, C.-K., Pickering, B.F., Chow A., Jackson C., Guttman, M., Jaffrey, S.R.  m6A RNA methylation promotes XIST-mediated transcriptional repression.  Nature, 2016, 537:369-73, 2016.

Mauer, J., Luo, X., Blanjoie, A., Jiao, X., Grozhik, A.V., Patil, D.P., Linder B., Pickering B.F., Vasseur, J.-J., Chen, Q., Gross, S.S., Elemento, O., Debart, F., Kiledjian, M., Jaffrey, S.R.  Reversible methylation of m6Am in the 5’ cap controls mRNA stability.  Nature, 541:371-375, 2017.

Vu, L.P., Pickering, B.F., Cheng, Y., Zaccara, S., Nguyen, D., Minuesa, G., Chou, T., Chow, A., Saletore, Y., MacKay, M., Schulman, J., Famulare, C., Patel, M., Klimek, V. M., Garrett-Bakelman, F.E., Melnick, A., Carroll, M., Mason, C. E., Jaffrey, S.R.*, and Kharas, M.G.* The N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-forming enzyme METTL3 controls myeloid differentiation of normal hematopoietic and leukemia cells. Nature Medicine, 23:1369-1376, 2017, 2017. 

Our work has ranged from basic molecular biology to studies of epitranscriptomic alterations in disease.  Our work has resulted in the discovery of a novel form of cap-independent form of translation mediated by m6A.  We also introduced the concept of the "cap epitranscriptome" in our study of a new epitranscriptomic modification m6Am (N6, 2'-O-dimethyladenosine), which is situated near the m7G mRNA cap (Mauer et al., Nature 2017).  Our recent work has revealed that altered m6A modifications is an oncogenic driver in acute myeloid leukemia.

Our projects related to m6A, cap epitranscriptomics, and new emerging RNA modifications provide a unique opportunity to explore a completely new area of RNA molecular biology.  Postdocs will have the opportunity to work on projects that will result in seminal papers that will provide the foundation for what will eventually become a major area of molecular biology research. Postdocs with expertise in molecular biology, bioinformatics, structural biology, and/or RNA biology (e.g. splicing, noncoding RNAs, transcription, etc) are encouraged to apply.

Chemical Biology and Fluorescence Imaging Postdoctoral Positions

Scientific breakthroughs are often driven by novel enabling technologies.  A major goal of the Jaffrey laboratory is to use chemical biology and synthetic biology to create new imaging and optogenetic tools that reveal new insights into cellular function and disease.

As an example, our laboratory developed "RNA mimics” of green fluorescent protein.  These are RNA aptamer sequences that bind fluorophores that resemble the fluorophore in GFP, and switch them from a nonfluorescent state to a fluorescent state.  We developed RNAs that bind a series of GFP-related fluorophores, producing a palette of fluorescence emissions ranging from blue to red.  Much of our work has focused on “Spinach,” an RNA that emits a bright green fluorescence. We have tagged noncoding RNAs with Spinach, expressed these RNAs, and imaged them in living cells. These experiments have resulted in powerful and unprecedented insights into RNA trafficking in cells.

This work was described in a paper in Science (Paige, J.S., Wu, K.Y., Jaffrey, S.R. RNA mimics of green fluorescent protein, Science, 333:642-646, 2011), as well as several follow-up studies.

To understand cellular function, researchers need to image the highly dynamic changes in cellular metabolites and signaling events in living cells.  This requires novel types of biosensors that can detect the diversity of these signaling events.  At present, protein-based sensors have not been able to detect the diversity of cellular events that account for cellular function.  To overcome this problem, we are using RNA to create sensors.  RNA is highly plastic and can be molded into diverse shapes that bind and recognize cellular signaling molecules and metabolites.  We recently used this principle to fashion RNA into biosensors that fluoresce upon binding specific metabolites and proteins in the cell.   

The most useful aspect of these RNAs is that cells can be engineered to express them.  As a result, the cells directly report signaling events in cells based on their fluorescence.  We expect that these genetically encoded RNA-based sensors will form the foundation for a fundamentally novel technology that will rival or replace current FRET-based approaches.

This work was described in a paper in Science (Paige, J.S., Ngyuen-Duc, T., Song, W., Jaffrey, S.R. Fluorescence imaging of cellular metabolites with RNA. Science, 335:1194, 2012), as well a follow-up study in Nature Methods (Song, W., Strack, R.L., Jaffrey, S.R. Imaging bacterial protein expression using genetically encoded RNA sensors. Nature Methods, 10:873-5, 2013).  More recent papers have focused on new aptamers such as Broccoli and directed evolution technologies to evolve appetizers to function in mammalian cells.  

We are looking for creative and ambitious postdocs who are interested in projects that further develop and apply this novel and innovative technology.  For instance, we are developing new, brighter RNA-fluorophore complexes. For example we have developed “Carrot” and “Radish” RNA aptamers which bind fluorophores similar to the red fluorescent protein fluorophore, and which provide bright orange and red fluorescence. We are currently optimizing these tags for multiplexed imaging of RNA in cells.  Additionally, we are developing RNA-fluorophore complexes with new photophysical properties, including resistance to photobleaching and photoactivation. We are also developing DNA aptamers that mimic GFP.  We are also using Spinach to image fundamental molecular biology reactions, such as splicing, enabling RNA processing events to be monitored in living cells. Additionally, we are interested in using Spinach and Carrot to image the trafficking of novel non-coding RNA in cells in order to uncover their biological functions.  

For our sensor work, we are developing new RNA sensor microarrays to potentially detect dozens or hundreds of small molecules in a tissue sample at once. We are developing novel types of sensors to image diverse types of molecules, including proteins with specific post-translational modifications.  We are developing RNA-based sensors in order to image the dynamics of signaling and epigenetic modifications in cells.  These and a variety of other innovative projects are currently a major focus of the laboratory.  

Importantly, we do not exclusively develop new technologies.  We are also interested in using them to address questions in cell biology or signaling. Postdocs who are interested in both developing and applying new technologies are encouraged to apply. 

We have positions available for postdocs in projects that range from molecular biology, imaging, chemical biology, and synthetic chemistry.  Postdoctoral candidates who have expertise in imaging, microscopy, fluorescence, fluorescent proteins, synthetic biology, RNA biochemistry, or related areas are welcome to apply. Postdocs who have experience with synthetic chemistry, especially related to RNA biology, aptamers, or synthetic biology are also encouraged to apply.

Graduate Students

The Jaffrey lab is open to graduate students with diverse interests, including Neuroscience, Pharmacology, Cell Biology, Chemistry, Genetics, and Developmental Biology.  Recent rotation students include those enrolled in the Tri-Institutional Chemical Biology Program, Computational Biology Program, and MD/PhD program.

Interested students should e-mail Samie Jaffrey to arrange a rotation.