A Postdoctoral fellow position in the lab of Dr. Laura Hertel at UCSF (Oakland Campus) is available immediately to a highly motivated, independent, creative and driven individual interested in investigating the mechanisms of human cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission via the oronasal mucosa and/or upper respiratory tract, with the goal of devising new strategies to prevent CMV acquisition by "at risk" populations such as pregnant women.   The project involves the culture, infection, and single cell RNA-seq processing of epithelial cell types derived from different anatomical region of the mouth, pharynx and lungs, cultured in monolayer or in 3-D organotypic format. The fellow will: 1) Perform infection assays to determine the susceptibility to CMV infection of different epithelial cell types; 2) Identify potential cellular blocks to viral replication and progeny production or release, and 3) Identify the viral and cellular factors involved in conferring permissiveness or resistance to CMV infection, and their mechanism of action.