Senior Research Investigator (Department of Neuroscience)

Job Description Summary

The Senior Research Investigator (SRI) will act in a leadership role, overseeing and designing advanced experiments. He/She/They will assist the Principal Investigator and play a leading role in developing a research project that uses human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs)-derived 2D and 3D models to study the impact of risk variants of schizophrenia on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying deficits in early neurodevelopment and synaptic properties. Results derived from this study potentially will help in devising novel therapeutics for schizophrenia.

The SRI will play a crucial role in all aspects of research products including development, implementation, and data analysis. In the development stage, the SRI will assess proposed projects by conducting feasibility studies to provide valuable input regarding efficiency, timeline, and study design. In the implementation stage, he/she will supervise and perform the projects. This includes overseeing workflow and productivity of personnel and providing training to them on specific methods as necessary. Finally, the SRI will be responsible for data analysis, preparation of manuscripts, liaising with external partners, and presenting research findings through various forums. The SRI must demonstrate the ability to analyze and present data in professional "publication ready" format and to be able to independently prepare manuscripts and grant writings for submission.

Job Responsibilities

The successful applicant will have extensive experience in the fields of stem cell biology, molecular biology, iPSC culture, biochemistry, human genetics, neuroscience, epigenetics, and bioinformatics. To this end, we seek a candidate who will lead every aspect of the project.

The SRI will:

• Design and implement experiments under the supervision of Dr. Hongjun Song.
• Generate isogenic hiPSC lines using CRISPR/Cas9 with different genetic backgrounds parental lines editing different loci of target genes.
• Differentiate isogenic hiPSC lines into 2D cortical and hippocampal neurons and 3D cortical and hippocampal organoids.
• Analyze transcriptomic and epigenomic data at both the single and bulk-cell level.
• Perform immunostaining and neuronal electrophysiology (ephys) experiments for 2D and 3D cultures and analyze imaging and ephys data.
• Manage teams of undergraduate/graduate students and post-doctoral trainees

Position is contingent on continued funding.

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy, and 5 to 7 years of postdoctoral experience is required.