Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate

A Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate position is available in the lab of Dr. Charleston Chiang at USC. The Chiang lab utilizes cutting-edge analytic tools to address questions at the intersection of human medical and population genetics. In particular, we have a strong interest in using genomic data to understand the evolution and architecture of complex traits and the history of diverse human populations. These insights will be critical for future medical genetics studies and in practicing personalized medicine. The successful candidate will have substantial input in the nature and the direction of the ongoing research projects within the lab and will be encouraged to explore projects that broadly fit within the lab's research interests and funded R35 and R01 grants. These goals include learning about demographic history or natural selection from genetic variation data, or understanding genetic architecture and evolutionary history of complex traits in diverse populations. Opportunities are available for both method development as well as analysis of large-scale genotyping, next-generation sequencing, and multi-omic data in humans from diverse populations. The candidate can be funded through multiple sources: (1) R01: on the genetic history, statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology of metabolic traits of Pacific Island populations. Will have access to newly generated whole genome sequencing data and genome-wide array data. (2) R01: on method development for statistical and population genetic applications based on the ancestral recombination graph (e.g. Tang and Chiang, AJHG 2025 or Fan et al. Nat Genet 2025). (3) R35: broadly on the consequence of natural selection and demography on evolution of human traits, including expanding the framework to other population datasets such as Taiwan Biobank. The candidate will also have access to data from Multiethnic Cohort (https://uhcance