Postdoctoral Fellow - DiFrisco Lab

Reports to: James DiFrisco – Group Leader

Contract: This is a full‑time, fixed term position (4 years) on Crick terms and conditions of employment.

Salary for this Role: From £47,500 per annum with benefits, subject to skills and experience.

The Research Group

The DiFrisco Lab (Theoretical Biology Group) was established at the Francis Crick Institute in 2023. Our general aim is to develop new conceptual frameworks and models for the study of biological complexity, focusing on the intersection of development and evolution. The research group is primarily theoretical, utilising mathematical modelling, phylogenetic comparative methods, conceptual and philosophical synthesis, and a variety of computational approaches to understand the evolution of developmental processes. We also aim to integrate theoretical methods with data, and the lab conducts experimental research in early developmental biology in vertebrates (using a combination of avian, anuran, and fish model systems).

Current activities and themes include the following:

• Mapping homologies in the gastrulation system across gnathostomes and understanding how different gastrulation modes evolved;
• Tracing developmental system drift in the regulatory networks controlling olfactory gene expression across drosophilids (in collaboration with the Prieto Godino lab);
• Modelling how genetic systems respond to conflicting selection pressures on pleiotropically‑linked traits;
• Understanding how biophysical constraints on body size influence the evolution of animal tissues and organs.

The recruited postdoc is expected to contribute to theme (1), broadly construed. More general themes of interest and expertise in the group (currently comprising 2 PhD students and 2 postdocs) include causal reasoning and inference, homology in early vertebrate development, dynamical modelling of developmental processes, genetic architecture and adaptation in early development, biological levels of organization, size‑scaling in development, the evolution of pleiotropy and co‑option, and gene regulatory network evolution.

The Project

The project will investigate the gene‑regulatory basis of evolutionary divergence in modes of gastrulation across vertebrates, building on multiomic datasets from chick and frog already generated within the lab. The postholder will investigate regulatory interactions and their morphogenetic and biomechanical consequences during gastrulation. The position is experimentally led but embedded in a theoretically oriented group. The postholder will collaborate with computational and modelling colleagues and will be supported in developing comparative and quantitative skills.

In this project, some of the specific aims include but are not limited to:

• Reconstructing gene regulatory networks active in the pre‑gastrulation epiblast and blastoderm, moving from the correlational signatures present in the existing multiomic data to regulatory interactions, and testing these in vivo;
• Characterising how these regulatory states relate to the cell behaviours and mechanical forces that drive tissue internalisation, such as cell intercalation and tissue deformation at the forming streak or blastopore, using methods such as imaging, quantitative morphometrics, and mechanical measurement or perturbation as appropriate;
• Comparing regulatory and mechanical features between chick and frog, and additional species where tractable, to distinguish elements that are conserved from those that have diverged, contributing to the lab’s wider effort to map homologies and adaptations in the vertebrate gastrulation system.

The postholder will be responsible for:

• Designing, conducting, and troubleshooting wet‑lab experiments in avian and/or anuran embryos and/or in vitro models, including expression analysis, gene perturbation, live and fixed imaging, and mechanical measurement or perturbation as the questions require;
• Analysing, interpreting, and integrating the resulting data with the lab’s existing multiomic datasets, in collaboration with computational members of the group;
• Leading the preparation of manuscripts and presenting findings at scientific meetings, while contributing to collaborative projects within the lab and with external partners and, where appropriate, helping to guide PhD students;
• Maintaining regular working hours in the space allocated to the group in London (fully remote work is not possible).

The postholder can expect:

• Provision of a quiet work space, a computer, access to high‑performance computing, a lab bench, and generous funding for research expenses (e.g., probes, equipment, books, software, conference travel);
• Active mentorship, feedback, collaboration, and career support from the group leader;
• Access to opportunities for training and career development provided to Crick postdocs;
• A dynamic, exciting, and intellectually challenging research environment in which to develop the fellow’s research to its full potential.

Postdoctoral Fellows will lead their own projects, contribute to other projects on a collaborative basis (both in the lab and with external collaborators) and may guide PhD students in their research. The ability to work in a team is essential.

Key experience and competencies

Essential

• PhD awarded, or in final stages of submission, in life sciences or biology‑adjacent field;
• Training and expertise in developmental biology, developmental genetics, cell biology, or evolutionary‑developmental biology;
• Track record of writing papers as evidenced by publications or submitted manuscripts in reputable journals;
• Evidence of presentations at scientific meetings;
• Motivation, drive, and the ability to work independently;
• Interest and capacity for acquiring skills and knowledge in theoretical biology broadly, including evolutionary modelling practices, comparative methods, and abstract conceptual reasoning;
• Willingness to acquire new computational skills;
• Willingness to constructively engage with research outside of one’s area of specialisation.

Desirable

• Experience with vertebrate model systems such as chick, zebrafish, and/or frog;
• Knowledge of comparative developmental anatomy of vertebrates, especially of early development (gastrulation, neurulation, and somitogenesis stages);
• Experience/skills in single‑cell RNA sequencing methods, scRNAseq data analysis, and comparative transcriptomic methods;
• Experience/skills in imaging and image analysis, knock‑out methods, electroporation, transgenics, in vitro stem cell models, and mechanical perturbation;
• Experience/skills in bioinformatics and biostatistics.

The post holder should demonstrate the behaviours which support our code of conduct and how we work by being bold, open and collegial.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We welcome applications from all backgrounds. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, pregnancy, age, disability, or civil partnership, marital or family status. We particularly welcome applications from people who are Minority Ethnic as they are currently underrepresented in the Crick at this level. The Crick is committed to creating equality of opportunity and promoting diversity and inclusivity. We all share in the responsibility to actively promote dignity, respect, inclusivity and equal treatment and it is our aim to ensure that these principles are reflected and implemented in all strategies, policies and practices.