Postdoctoral Scientist - Heart Institute - Makkar Lab
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Application
Details
Posted: 09-Apr-26
Location: Los Angeles, California
Internal Number: 16281
Job Description
Grow your career at Cedars-Sinai!
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has been named to the Honor Roll in U.S. News & World Report?s "Best Hospitals 2025-2026" rankings. When you join our team, you?ll have access to groundbreaking biomedical research facilities and world-class medical education programs. We take pride in hiring exceptional, dedicated professionals who are passionate about advancing healthcare. Our physicians, nurses, and staff reflect the culturally and ethnically diverse communities we serve and are united by a shared commitment to excellence. Together, we foster a dynamic, inclusive environment that drives innovation and supports the gold standard of patient care.
Are you ready to be a part of breakthrough research?
The Smidt Heart Institute reflects Cedars-Sinai's steadfast dedication to heart disease and research innovation giving patients access to the highest level of care. Year after year, thousands of people trust their hearts to Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai. Our cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and niche care teams treat the full spectrum of heart disease and disorders, while our investigators continue to advance the field with groundbreaking, life-saving research. From genetic counseling and targeted drug therapies to a growing array of minimally invasive procedures, Cedars-Sinai continues to stand at the forefront of technology, innovation and discovery improving patient outcomes.
The Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai is looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the laboratory of Dr. Raj Makkar.
Raj Makkar, MD is a world-renowned leading expert in interventional cardiology and is one of the most widely cited researchers on the management of valvular heart disease. He has performed the greatest number of transcatheter valve implantation (TAVI) procedures in the world and has led the field in advancing the procedure to ensure the best outcomes for patients. In 2020, he performed the most transcatheter mitral valve repair procedures with the MitraClip system in the United States and is the national principal investigator for mitral valve replacement research studies. He has authored over 500 manuscripts, abstracts and book chapters in peer-reviewed literature including practice-changing contributions in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet. He has lectured extensively around the world and regularly performs live case transmissions for major international conferences to demonstrate cutting-edge interventional cardiology techniques to a world-wide audience. His research interests focus on novel transcatheter therapies to treat structural heart disease, with a focus on studies that directly demonstrate improvements in patient outcomes. Since 2010, he has been the Stephen R. Corday Chair in Interventional Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai and has led the clinical program and trained over 50 fellows both from within the United States and internationally.
What will you be doing in this role?
Working independently but in close cooperation and in consultation with the Principal Investigator and other Research Scientists, the Postdoctoral Scientist will perform routine and complex laboratory procedures throughout training period. May develop, adapt, and implement new research techniques and protocols. Analyzes and interprets data. May assist in preparation of grant proposals. Participates in publications and presentations as author or co-author. Not responsible for generating grant funds.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
May assist in the preparation of grant proposals but is not responsible for generating grant funds.
May participate in publications and presentations as author or co-author.
Designs and performs experiments. Will keep appropriate experimental records and documentation and analyze the results with the Principal Investigator.
May develop, adapt, and implement new research techniques and protocols.
Analyzes, interpret, summarizes, and compiles data.
Performs routine and complex laboratory procedures throughout the training period.
Operates and maintains equipment and instruments.
May observe MD-patient or MD-human research subject interactions as it pertains directly to research being performed.
Qualifications
Education:
Doctorate Degree in area directly related to field of research specialization is required.
Experience and Skills:
No experience required. Acquires thorough technical and theoretical knowledge of research project and objectives during a one to five (1-5) year post-doctoral appointment.
Works independently on research projects designed by a mentor (typically the PI) within area of specialization.
Demonstrated aptitude to perform experimental protocols and procedures, including detailed data collection, and analysis and operation and maintenance of specialized equipment.
Knowledge of safety standards and maintenance of specialized equipment.
Providing healthcare for more than 100 years, Cedars-Sinai has evolved into one of the most dynamic and highly renowned medical centers in the world. Along with caring for patients, Cedars-Sinai is a hub for biomedical research and a training center for future physicians and other healthcare professionals. This attracts exceptional talent to Cedars-Sinai, including world-renowned physician-scientists who seek a place where they can both conduct research and see patients--the ideal formula for discovery and its translation into cures. Our patients benefit from access to doctors at the top of their fields, and our researchers have an ideal community in which to study the impact of healthcare challenges, and reflect that knowledge in their research. The greater Los Angeles area in which Cedars-Sinai resides possesses unparalleled cultural and ethnic diversity which offers outstanding opportunities for translational and clinical research and a dynamic environment for medical education.Although community based, Cedars-Sinai is a major teaching hospital affiliated with the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Cedars-Sinai has highly competi...tive graduate medical education programs in more than 50 specialty and subspecialty areas, a graduate program in biomedical sciences and translational medicine, a clinical scholars program directed towards junior physicians with aspirations to become clinical scientists, and post graduate training opportunities.There are more than 250 full-time faculty members at Cedars-Sinai. The voluntary medical staff, comprised of more than 2,200 specialty board-certified or board-qualified physicians, represent all of the specialties and subspecialties and collaborate with full-time medical staff in the teaching responsibilities of the graduate medical education programs.
