Job ID: 96884

Postdoctoral position in modeling Neuro-Developmental Disorders

Position: Post-doctoral Position

Deadline: 31 December 2022

Employment Start Date: 2 January 2023

City: PARIS

Country: France

Institution: Brain Institute

Department:

Description:

Starting from January 2023
Funding is available for up to 2 years

We are seeking a post-doctoral research fellow for the NDevCerebrOids project, funded by the ANR (French National Research Agency), that aims at modeling neurodevelopmental disorders using cerebral organoids in the case of Mediator-related disorders.

The project will be carried out in the “Brain Development” research team (The Hassan Lab), under the supervision of clinical associate professor Dr. Laïla El Khattabi.

Mutations in different subunits composing the Mediator complex (MED) cause Neuro-Developmental Disorders. Affected patients display intellectual deficiency of variable severity that may be associated with ASD, epilepsy or other congenital malformations. MED is essential for PolII transcription and functional enhancer-promoter interactions but its role in early brain development and the mechanisms leading to NDD in case of a mutation remain to be deciphered. In the NDevCerebrOids, the fellow will generate and characterize brain organoids using hiPSCs carrying MED mutations that were identified in patients followed by our clinical geneticists. She/He will perform imaging, transcriptional and chromatin studies as well as electrophysiological analyses.

The Hassan Lab is a leader in the field of neurogenetics and transcriptional control of neural cell fate acquisition (https://institutducerveau-icm.org/en/team/team-brain-development/). Several postdoctoral fellows and PhD students work on different projects linked to brain development within the team. The Paris Brain Institute (ICM) offers world class core facilities, skills training programs and a vibrant and diverse scientific research culture and community.

The applicant is expected to be highly autonomous and pro-active, have a good organization, be eager of learning, be able to address the scientific questions of the project and design experiments in collaboration with the supervisor. Although funding is available for 2 years, the successful applicant is expected to apply for their own fellowship during this time. Experience and knowledge in neurogenesis and/or bioinformatic analysis is a plus.

If interested, please send your CV and motivation letter and provide two referees to: laila.el-khattabi@aphp.fr