University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Postdoctoral Position: Red Blood Cell Immunobiology Location: Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Open Date: Jan 05, 2026 Deadline: Description The Mangalmurti Laboratory invites applications for a postdoctoral position examining red blood cells (RBCs) as previously unrecognized regulators of innate immunity. The laboratory focuses on how RBCs participate in nucleic acid sensing, immune homeostasis, and inflammatory disease, with a long-term goal of translating fundamental red blood cell immune functions into clinically relevant applications. The lab made the seminal discovery that red blood cells express the nucleic acid-sensing receptor TLR9 and actively sequester cell-free DNA, redefining RBCs as active participants in innate immune regulation. Ongoing work integrates mechanistic in vitro systems, organ-on-a-chip platforms, clinical specimens from critically ill patients, and erythroid-specific PRR-deficient mouse models to...