Professor Tafesse's Office

Email Dr. Tafesse
Richard Jones Hall 6598
503 494-2635

Lab

Richard Jones Hall  6327
503 494-2648

3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd
Mail Code L220, RJH 6327
Portland, OR 97239

Visiting OHSU

Postdoctoral position in Host-Pathogen Interaction 

A postdoctoral scientist position is available in Dr. Tafesse’s lab in the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. 

The research interest of the Tafesse lab includes 1) host lipid-pathogen interactions; 2) Identification of host factors essential for pathogenesis of viruses (flaviviruses that include Zika virus, Dengue virus, etc) and bacteria (M. tuberculosis) employing CRISPR/Cas9 genome-wide genetic screens; 3) generation of Alpaca-derived single-domain antibodies (also known as nanobodies) against the virulent factors of M. tuberculosis for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. 

Candidates should have recently completed PhD training or equivalent, and demonstrate evidence of having a strong research interest in the area of Microbiology/Immunology, Cell Biology or Biochemistry. The candidates should also have self-motivation, independent research ability, communication skills, and be able to work in a team. 

Successful applicants will be generously offered with NIH guideline-based salary and benefits, in addition to being a member of a high-quality research team and a collaborative research environment of OHSU. 

Applicants should email his/her CV, research statement, and the contact information of references to: Dr. Tafesse.

Postdoc and visiting scientist (Ph.D. or Master's students) positions

If you are interested in joining our lab as a postdoc or as a visiting scientist (Ph.D. or Master's student/intern from Europe or anywhere else), please feel free to contact Dr. Tafesse at any time. We strongly encourage postdocs to obtain their own funding. Similarly, Ph.D. or Master's students (mostly from Europe) who would like to do their thesis fully or partially in our lab (9-12 months) usually come with their own funding. Depending on our funding availability, we may provide financial assistance. 

We are very interested in international scientific exchange and thus explicitly encourage foreign students to apply for positions. Please keep in mind that not all fellowships are open to all nationalities and therefore strategies have to be specifically devised. We will, however, be committed to helping with these applications. Be aware that such applications need to be arranged well in advance, so please contact us in due course. 

Graduate students

We have openings for graduate students. If you are a graduate student at OHSU and would like to rotate into our lab, please feel free to contact us. We would love to discuss our research interests and explore a Ph.D. project for you. 

Candidates will have ample opportunities to acquire and develop new skills, work closely with the PI and collaborators, and communicate results to the scientific community through conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications while working in a supportive, highly collaborative, and energetic environment. State-of-the-art facilities are available within an exceptional research setting.