Postdoctoral Training Benjamin C. Hunt, PhD, left, received the 2024 Milgrom Award which recognizes excellence in a postdoctoral fellow’s training record. Here he collaborates with his mentor, Chelsie E. Armbruster, PhD, in the lab.
We give you the postdoctoral experiences you need to meet your career goals and advance to the next stage of your career.
Extend Your Expertise and Training If you want to build on your accomplishments while exploring new avenues of research, we offer outstanding opportunities in broad areas of microbiology and immunology .
We give you:
You will help solve research problems, design methodologies and perform experiments. Your work will help advance research with the strong potential to attract and maintain grant funding .
We engage you as a key player on our research teams. You will:
prepare material for publication in scholarly journals help write funding proposals and applications present research results participate in seminars, high-profile regional conferences and national and international professional forums teach undergraduates in the classroom and one-on-one in the lab We encourage you to make the most of your time with us. We will help you determine the career path that best matches your ambitions and encourage you to explore and develop your interests.
Opportunities for Collaboration You will have opportunities to participate in our established, collaborative projects, learning from experts in the following areas:
Anaerobe-host interactions (Ryan Hunter ) Artificial intelligence and machine learning (Yijun Sun ) Bacteria (Elsa Bou Ghanem ; Ryan Hunter ) Bacterial Pathogenesis (Elsa Bou Ghanem ; Ryan Hunter ) Bacterial pathogens (Chelsie Armbruster ; Ryan Hunter ) Bacterial Pathogens (Chelsie Armbruster ; Ryan Hunter ) Bioinformatics and computational biology (Yijun Sun ; Ryan Hunter ) Bioinformatics: sequencing, genomes, metagenomes, 16S, fitness analysis (Yolanda Huang ) Calcium-dependent signaling (Gustavo Arrizabalaga ) Cell and Molecular Biology (Techung Lee ; Gustavo Arrizabalaga ) Cell intrinsic immunity (Spyridon Stavrou ) Drug target discovery (John Panepinto ) Functional genomics: DNA barcoding, high-throughput fitness assays (Yolanda Huang ) Gut anaerobes: genetics, biochemistry (Yolanda Huang ) Gut microbiota: anaerobes, Bacteroidales, phages, bacteria-phage interactions (Yolanda Huang ) Host cellular factors (Spyridon Stavrou ) Host-directed therapeutic strategies for HIV-1 (Saikat Boliar ) Host-pathogen interactions (Thomas Russo ; Michelle Visser ; Ryan Hunter ) Host-pathogens interactions (Spyridon Stavrou ) Immune Regulation and Wound Repair (Elizabeth Wohlfert ) Immune Senescence (Elsa Bou Ghanem ) Immunobiology (Elizabeth Wohlfert ) Immunoparasitology (Elizabeth Wohlfert ) In vivo models of infection (Spyridon Stavrou ) Inflammation (Elsa Bou Ghanem ) Innate immunity (Spyridon Stavrou ) Innate Immunology (Elsa Bou Ghanem ; Michelle Visser ) Kinases and phosphatases (Gustavo Arrizabalaga ) Kinetoplastid parasites: Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi (Joseph Smith ) Life cycle progression: parasite signaling, parasite differentiation (Joseph Smith ) Membrane contact sites (Gustavo Arrizabalaga ) Metabolite carrier proteins (MCPs) (Joseph Smith ) Microbial pathogenesis (Amy Jacobs ; Thomas Melendy ; Thomas Russo ; John Crane ) Microbial physiology (Ryan Hunter ) Mitochondrial dynamics (Joseph Smith ) Molecular mycology (John Panepinto ; Mira Edgerton ) Molecular parasitology (James Bangs ; Gustavo Arrizabalaga ) Molecular Parasitology (James Bangs ; Gustavo Arrizabalaga ) Molecular virology (Amy Jacobs ; Thomas Melendy ) Molecular virology and viral pathogenesis: HIV-1 replication and latency, HIV-1 persistence in tissue-resident alveolar macrophages (Saikat Boliar ) Motility (Chelsie Armbruster ; Jad Bou-Abdallah ) Mucosal immunology (Elizabeth Wohlfert ) Parasite (Gustavo Arrizabalaga ) Parasite-specific regulatory kinases: RDK1 and RDK2 (Joseph Smith ) Polymicrobial infections (Chelsie Armbruster ; Ryan Hunter ) Protein biochemistry: metabolism, stress tolerance, colonization factors (Yolanda Huang ) Retroviruses (Spyridon Stavrou ) RNA Biochemistry (John Panepinto ) RNA biology: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as host-dependency factors in HIV-1 infection (Saikat Boliar ) Transgenic mice (Spyridon Stavrou ) Urease (Chelsie Armbruster ) Urinary tract infection (Chelsie Armbruster ) Vaccine Responses (Elsa Bou Ghanem ) Viral immunopathogenesis: HIV-1 infection and innate immunity (Saikat Boliar ) Viral pathogenesis (Spyridon Stavrou ; Amy Jacobs ; Thomas Melendy )
Collaborate With Experts Across Disciplines You also will be able to begin building your own collaborative networks across disciplinary boundaries.
Your faculty mentor may involve you in collaborations with:
Bridge to a Successful Future With your initiative and our guidance, you will gain the competitive edge you need to build an impressive CV and develop expertise for the long term.
You will contribute to your lab’s publications, scientific presentations and overall success.
We also encourage you to pursue your own independent research and support your efforts to obtain funding and fellowships.
Our postdoctoral scholars have a good track record of securing extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations.
They have progressed to productive careers in academia, private industry and government .
Build Broader Connections We encourage you to connect with postdoctoral scholars throughout the university and the nation. We give you many resources and platforms to network with the scientific community and grow as a researcher and an educator.
Through UB’s Office of Postdoctoral Scholars and the UB Postdoc Association, you can take advantage of:
an annual postdoctoral research symposium where you can share your research and compete for awards monthly Research in Progress peer-to-peer presentations professional development training to build teaching, communication and other career-boosting skills membership in the National Postdoctoral Association
Financial Support and Benefits nationally competitive salary, based on experience and expertise (may be negotiable) full benefits package for postgraduate associates, including health care insurance
How to Apply