Background:
Multiple openings are available for highly motivated and creative postdoctal fellows in the bioinformatics and computational biology field, to join the Xu Lab at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
We are seeking a motivated bioinformatics postdoctoral fellow with interests in computational analysis of complex biological data. The successful candidate will work with diverse multi-omic datasets, develop and refine analytical pipelines, and help translate biological questions into computationally driven insights. This position offers an excellent opportunity to strengthen in-demand bioinformatics and data science skills, work in a collaborative environment with both computational and experimental researchers, and contribute to impactful publications and discoveries that support future careers in academia, industry, or biotech.
Meanwhile, I also recruit new postdoc fellows on large language models (LLMs) directions. Xu lab pioneers the application of artificial intelligence (AI) —particularly foundation models and LLMs—to drive biological and medical discovery, with a focus on interpretable and generalizable AI frameworks that extend foundation models into genomics, epigenomics, and precision medicine. For example, his team developed an AI-based approach to identify cardiovascular disease genes and validated these findings experimentally in a novel mouse model and preclinical studies, leading to publication in Nature in 2020. More recently, his team developed an LLM-based method that enabled the discovery and experimental validation of a new transcriptional biosensor, published in Science in 2026. His lab has also published multiple LLM algorithms in biology and medical applications, including DEEP-Align, DeMoP, MedLLMCoach, OmniHealthFM, and others.
Dr. Lin Xu has developed multiple deep learning models and statistical algorithms to identify novel disease genes and therapeutic targets [e.g., Huang et al. Nature (2020), Lu et al. Nature Machine Intelligence (2022), Chai et al. Nature Medicine (2022), Takahiko et al. Science Translational Medicine (2022) (Cover Story), Shi et al. Cancer Cell (2022), Lebek et al. Science (2023), Xu et al. Nature Communications (2023), Zhu et al. Cancer Cell (2023), Zhang et al. Journal of Clinical Investigation (2023), He et al. Nature Communications (2023), Yu et al. Nature Communications (2023), Santos et al. Nature Communications (2023), Li et al. Nature Communications (2023), Wei et al. Cell (2023), Hernandez et al. PNAS (2024), Hu L et al. Mol Cell (2024), Eglenen-Polat et al. Nature Communications (2024), Lin CC et al. Nature Communications (2024), Xu L. et al. Nature Communications (2024), Venkateswaran N. et al. Nature Communications (2024), Chen S. et al. Nature Communications (2025), Liao C, Nature Communications (2025), Yang X. et al. Nature Immunology (2025), Lu ZY. et al. Nature Communications (2025), Zhou Y. et al. Nature Communications (2025), Adachi Y et al. J Clin Invest. (2025), Napolitano F, et al. J Clin Invest. (2025), Bann et al. Circulation (2025), Ding et al. Circulation (2025), Caravia XM, et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2025), Guan P, et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2025), Engreitz JM, et al. Nature (2025), Li H et al., Science (2026)]. Since 2022, his lab’s research has been published in a series of high-impact journals, including Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Medicine, Cancer Cell, eLife, PNAS, Nature Machine Intelligence, Nature Immunology, Nature Metabolism, Nature Communications, Science Translational Medicine, Science Advances, Molecular Cell, Genes & Development, Cell Reports, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Circulation, Circulation Research, and Developmental Cell.
Building on these publications in bioinformatics and AI fields, the Xu Lab has received support from multiple funding sources, including the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Hyundai Foundation, Children’s Cancer Fund, Sam Day Foundation, Rally Foundation, and Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation. Therefore, these new openings will be supported on a multi-year basis.
Position Title:
Postdoctoral fellow
Position Qualifications:
1) Experience with NGS data analysis and development of customized sequencing-analysis pipelines is strongly preferred.
2) Experience with Linux environments and command-line tools is required.
3) Doctoral degree in bioinformatics, genetics/genomics, statistics, biostatistics, computer science, systems biology, or a related field.
4) Excellent spoken and written English communication skills.
Xu Lab website:
https://qbrc.swmed.edu/labs/xulab/about.php
Contact:
Candidates should email a CV/resume directly to:
Lin Xu, Ph.D. ([email protected])
Application Deadline:
Open until filled; applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.