Instructor, Institute for Brain Disorders and Neural Regeneration in Bronx, New York at Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Instructor position available in the Institute for Brain Disorders and Neural Regeneration of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Epigenomic and Regenerative Medicine of Dr. Mark F. Mehler. Our laboratory group has a special interest in the developmental pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on Huntington’s disease, and the novel early molecular, cellular, and systems-level impairments that predispose to degenerative dementia during later life with a focus on cutting edge therapeutic initiatives to identify previously unanticipated epigenetic and regenerative molecular targets and biological processes that may be more efficacious in delaying or preventing disease onset or progression when employed during the pre-manifest stage of disease.

We utilize innovative conditional mouse disease models, selective transplantation protocols targeting developmental critical periods for neural network organization and plasticity, human neuropathological materials, and advanced neural organoid/assembloid models to interrogate a new disease process. This innovative model of neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis, for example in Huntington’s disease as an exemplar, postulates that the characteristic molecular architecture of the disease gene trinucleotide expansion repeats in concert with the presence of a series of genetic modifiers, including DNA damage response single nucleotide polymorphisms, collaborate to selectively impair the specification and maturation of a specific neuronal subtype uniquely involved in sculpting cortico-striatal connectivity and plasticity, and that deregulation of these interrelated maturational processes determines the precise age of disease onset and disease course.

The position will involve tissue processing, immunofluorescence microscopy and ultrastructural analysis, stereological examination, ex vivo high-resolution neuroimaging techniques, sequential neurobehavioral testing procedures, allograft preparation for transplantation analyses, optogenetic protocols, molecular techniques including single cell RNA-seq/ATAC-seq, chromatin dynamics, ChIP-seq, spatial transcriptomics, examination of the molecular architecture of the trinucleotide repeat expansion and SNPs of targeted DNA repair genes, and protocols for generation of patient-specific IPSCs and use of advanced neural organoid/assembloid technologies and interrogation of their disease evolution. Special consideration will be given to applicants with a strong training background in this interdisciplinary topic area and who are highly motivated to contribute new perspectives, analytical tools and scientific advances through research and review publications, biomedical meeting presentations and collaborative initiatives.

Applicants should have a PhD, MD or MD-PhD degree and relevant research experience.

Please submit CV, statement of interests and career goals, and contact information for 3 referees who can provide reference letters. These can be forwarded to:

Mark F. Mehler, MD, FAAN, FANA,

Alpern Professor and University Chair,

The Saul R. Korey Department of Neurology,

Director, Institute for Brain Disorders and Neural Regeneration,

Director, Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Epigenomic and Regenerative Medicine,

Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1410 Pelham Parkway South Kennedy Center 401

Bronx, NY 10461

Mark.mehler@einsteinmed.edu

In compliance with NYC's Pay Transparency Act, the annual base salary range for this position is $65,000-$70,000 and dependent on academic rank. Albert Einstein College of Medicine considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, as well as, market and organizational considerations when extending an offer.