Job Description

The Vallabh/Minikel lab at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard seeks an independent Postdoctoral Fellow motivated to impact human health by driving multiple projects of therapeutic and translational importance. This initiative is led by Dr. Sonia Vallabh and Dr. Eric Minikel, who became scientists in response to Sonia's own genetic test report. The goal of our work is to discover, develop, characterize and advance effective treatments for prion disease, a rapidly fatal and currently incurable neurodegenerative disease. You can read more about our mission here:

http://www.vallabhminikel.org/

The successful applicant's research projects will principally revolve around cell and tissue-based experiments aimed at illuminating drug mechanism of action, and in vivo characterization of therapeutic activity in the rodent brain. Mechanistic studies will require the ability to generate and test new hypotheses using neuronal and microglial cell culture systems and rodent brain tissue. In vivo experiments will require both deep pharmacological characterization of drug distribution and activity and proof-of-concept efficacy studies in disease models. The results should inform and enable the near-term development of human therapeutics for a currently untreatable disease.

The position will require several skill sets, many of which can be learned on the job, but the ideal candidate will come with experience in at least a few of the following areas: live animal handling and surgery; tissue harvest, preparation, dissection and staining; immunohistochemistry (IHC); tissue culture, immunofluorescence (IF), quantifying RNA and protein (ddPCR, qPCR, ELISA, Western blots), cloning, and transfection. Facility with antibody-based techniques is a plus.

Familiarity with immunology as well as a background in neuroscience will be extremely helpful.

The successful candidate will be able to take leadership of projects in a largely self-directed environment and will be ready to supervise a research assistant and to effectively manage relationships with vivarium staff, industry collaborators, contract research organizations, and other academic groups. A keen eye for statistical rigor is essential, and proficiency in data analysis is a plus.

REQUIREMENTS

• A PhD in molecular biology, neurobiology, or an allied field.


• Exquisite attention to detail and organizational capacity.


• Enthusiasm for working as part of a team sharply focused on therapeutic outcomes and translation to human clinical trials.


• We encourage candidates to apply as early as possible and will review applications on a rolling basis with the goal of a start date in early 2022.

Required application documents include a cover letter and CV. Please write a cover letter! We want to get a feel for why you are interested in working in our lab, out of all the labs out there. References will be requested on follow-up. We regret that we will not be able to reply to every applicant.

Contact: Sonia Vallabh

All Broad employees, regardless of work location, must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Tuesday, October 12, 2021. Requests for exemption for medical or sincerely held religious beliefs will be considered.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

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