Postdoctoral Fellow in Bioengineering

Position: Post-doctoral fellow

Time Status: Full-time

Background: Prof. Kevin Kit Parker’s Disease Biophysics Group at the Harvard University Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering seeks a talented post-doctoral fellow to work on the rapid manufacturing of regenerative heart valves, or JetValves. The candidate will use the proprietary rotary jet spinning technologies developed in the Parker lab to design, build, and test heart valve replacements using natural and synthetic polymeric nanofibers. The goal of this translational project – which is part of an international collaboration with the University of Zurich in Switzerland – is to complete the preclinical characterization of JetValves in preparation for a first-in-man clinical trial.

Duties and Responsibilities: Working together with a team of engineers, chemists, and applied mechanicians, the candidate will be responsible for nanofiber production and valve manufacturing, quality assessment, and structural and functional validation in-vitro. This includes performing standards tests using methodologies such as Instron®, FTIR, SEM, microCT, pulse duplicator testing, and cell infiltration. The candidate is also expected to participate in the in-vivo and post-mortem validation of JetValves implanted in sheep, including analysis of explanted samples via SEM and immunohistochemistry.

Qualifications: A Ph.D. in cardiovascular tissue engineering or related fields and expertise with in-vitro and/or in-vivo characterization of heart valves or heart valve replacements. A background in Materials Science and proven experience with nanofiber fabrication (e.g., electrospinning) or additive manufacturing methodologies (e.g., 3D printing) will be positively evaluated.

Application procedure: Interested candidates should submit their application packet to Prof. Kevin Kit Parker (kkparker@g.harvard.edu) and his admin assistant Dr. Ben Smith (bdsmith@g.harvard.edu) as a single pdf file with the following documents: cover letter, CV, 3 relevant papers, and the names of three referees.

Harvard University is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.