Project Title: Engineering Optogenetic Control of Feedstock Utilization in Yarrowia lipolytica

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled individual to join a collaboration between the Senger and Wright research groups as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. The successful candidate will play a central role in a multidisciplinary project aimed at engineering programmable CRISPRai and optogenetic control systems and developing predictive metabolic models for the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. This position offers a unique opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research at the intersection of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and systems biology with applications in sustainable biomanufacturing.

The successful candidate will contribute to the development of a strain-engineering platform that enables wavelength-specific optical regulation of feedstock catabolism and fatty acid biosynthesis. This includes building and refining a genome-scale metabolic model of Y.

lipolytica, developing optogenetic and CRISPR-based logic circuits, and using Raman spectroscopy to monitor cellular responses and validate model predictions. The work will directly inform the design of multiplexed strains capable of efficiently converting diverse feedstocks into valuable bioproducts.