AI/ML Postdoctoral Research Position at the NIH

A postdoctoral position is available in the research group of Dr. Ivan Ovcharenko at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The group develops AI/ML and statistical approaches to study epigenetic and sequence-based mechanisms of gene regulation. Current projects focus on deciphering the regulatory landscape of the human genome by integrating AI-driven enhancer modeling with GWAS data and extensive experimental enhancer characterization. Our goal is to reveal transcriptional mechanisms underlying cell-type–specific regulatory signals and to pinpoint disease-causal noncoding mutations.

 

Applicants should hold a PhD in Computational Biology, AI/ML, Computer Science, Population Genetics, Bioinformatics, or a related field, and have fewer than five years of postdoctoral experience. Strong programming skills and experience analyzing genomic data are highly desirable.

 

Selected recent publications:

D. Huang et al., Silencer variants are key drivers of gene up-regulation in Alzheimer’s disease, Science Advances, 2026

D. Huang et al., Super-silencers are crucial for development and carcinogenesis in B cells, Nature Communications, 2025

D. Huang et al., The contribution of silencer variants to human diseases, Genome Biology, 2024

S. Hudaiberdiev et al., Modeling islet enhancers using deep learning identifies candidate causal variants at loci associated with T2D and glycemic traits, PNAS, 2023

S. Li et al., De novo human brain enhancers created by single-nucleotide mutations, Science Advances, 2023

 

This is a full-time postdoctoral fellow position. The initial appointment will be for one year, and is renewable on a yearly basis, with extensions up to 5 years total. The NIH offers a competitive salary (based on postdoctoral experience, see stipend tables: https://www.training.nih.gov/stipends/) and comprehensive health insurance. The NIH is dedicated to the continued education and career development of all its research staff. Candidates are subject to a background investigation.

 

If interested, please email your CV and the names of three references to Dr. Ivan Ovcharenko at ovcharen@nih.gov.