Postdoctoral Research Associate - Genetics

Job description

Position Summary We invite highly motivated candidates to apply for positions as postdoctoral fellows in the laboratory of Dr. Jeff Milbrandt in the Department of Genetics at WashU in St. Louis. Our primary goal is to unravel the mechanism of axon degeneration and its role in neurodegenerative disease. Many of our projects are pursued collaboratively with the Aaron DiAntonio lab and focus on how defects in NAD homeostasis alter disease progression in peripheral neuropathy, ALS and retinal degenerative disorders. One set of studies is aimed at determining how the NADase activity of the TIR domain protein SARM1 is regulated and how its activity influences downstream signaling pathways that control axon maintenance. Another area of interest focuses on motor neuron abnormalities that occur in ALS and in peripheral neuropathy. In particular, we are interested in the unique metabolic vulnerability of motor axons and how metabolic deficits and mitochondrial dysfunction in Schwann cells contribute to motor neuron diseases. We are also pursuing studies to define the cellular composition of peripheral nerves, particularly the microglial-like cells that contribute to nerve homeostasis as well...