Postdoctoral Positions in Neuroscience
Job Description
Postdoctoral Position in Neuroscience
Harvard Medical School
Dr. Xianhua PIao’s laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School seeks postdoctoral fellows to study adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and their binding partners in glia development and diseases. The family of adhesion GPCRs is the second largest family of GPCRs with 33 members in the human genome. This class of receptors plays critically important roles in brain development, myelination, synapse pruning, and blood brain barrier formation. Mutations in multiple members of this receptor family cause human diseases; however, they remain significantly understudied and the vast majority of family members are still considered orphan receptors. Being Ｏne of the leaders in the field of adhesion GPCRs, the Piao lab and colleagues have linked adhesion GPCRs to human brain malformation (Piao et al, Science 2004), demonstrated their roles in CNS and PNS myelination (Giera et al, Nature Communications 2015; Petersen et al, Neuron 2015). To date, Ｏnly 6 out of the 33 members of adhesion GPCRs have known ligand(s), two of which were de-orphaned by the Piao lab and her collaborators (Luo et al, PNAS 2011; Petersen et al, Neuron 2015). To expand this exciting lead, the Piao lab is looking for postdoctoral candidates with a strong background in biochemistry, molecular biology, and neuroscience. Successful candidates will apply their knowledge in biochemistry, histology, and mouse brain development to investigate how adhesion GPCRs and their binding partners regulate glial cell function in synapse elimination and myelination during normal development and disease conditions. An outstanding salary and benefits package is included; salary will be commensurate with experience. |
