The University of Sao Paulo (USP) is hiring a postdoc to study how the immune system breaks down during sepsis, with a particular interest in how the brain and other organs signal to each other during the crisis. The contract runs two years, with which can be extended to four, and pays USD 2,500 a month tax-free (R$12,570). Applications close on 19 September 2026, though the lab reviews candidates as they come in.
Summary details: postdoc in computational immunology at USP
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Position | Postdoctoral Researcher |
| Field | Computational immunology, sepsis, gene regulatory networks |
| Institution | Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil |
| Funding | R$12,570 per month, tax-free (about USD 2,500) |
| Duration | 2 years, extendable to 4 |
| Application Deadline | 19 September 2026 |
| Degree required | PhD in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related field |
About the position
The lab wants to know how immune regulation shifts during sepsis, especially the signalling between the nervous system and other organs. Most of the work is computational: mining bulk and single-cell transcriptomic and metabolomic datasets, then modelling the gene regulatory networks that sit behind them. Where the project gets ambitious is in figuring out which genes actually drive the change, rather than simply move together, so a background in machine learning or information theory helps as much as a background in immunology does. The postdoc reports to Prof. Alexandre Steiner at USP, with co-supervision from Prof. Irina Mohorianu at the University of Cambridge.
Research areas and focus
| Area | Focus |
|---|---|
| Immunology | Immune regulation in sepsis, neuroimmune and interorgan communication |
| Functional genomics | Bulk and single-cell transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis |
| Systems biology | Inference of gene regulatory networks and cell-cell interaction prediction |
| Computational biology | Machine learning and information-theoretic models of network causality and dynamics |
| Multi-omics integration | Combining transcriptomics and metabolomics with tools such as MOFA2 and MOFA+ |
What you will do
- Build and run computational pipelines for high-throughput sequencing data
- Analyse bulk and single-cell RNA-seq datasets
- Integrate multi-omics data with tools such as MOFA2 and MOFA+
- Work closely with the lab’s experimental researchers on animal and human samples
- Write up findings for publication and present them at conferences
Who can apply
- PhD in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related field
- Solid track record analysing next-generation sequencing data
- Programming skills in R and/or Python
- Familiarity with tools such as Seurat, Scanpy, SCENIC/SCENIC+, or GENIE3
- A publication record in peer-reviewed journals
- Fluent written and spoken English
What is offered
- A two-year contract, extendable by two more years
- R$12,570 per month, tax-free, about three times the average net salary in Sao Paulo
- Co-supervision split between USP and the University of Cambridge
- Work with large-scale animal, human, and public datasets, including high-performance computing access
How to apply
- Prepare a CV, a cover letter describing your research experience and interests, and contact details for two references.
- Email these to Prof. Alexandre Steiner at asteiner@usp.br, with “Postdoc Computational Immunology” in the subject line.
- Applications are reviewed as they arrive, so apply before the closing date rather than waiting for it.
Deadline: 19 September 2026.