Postdoctoral Associate- Human Genetics and Gene Therapy

Summary

We are currently seeking a talented, energetic, and highly motivated postdoctoral scientist in the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.  The Elsea Lab is focused on the molecular and biochemical basis of rare diseases, including intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, seizures, and neurodevelopment.  

https://www.bcm.edu/people-search/sarah-elsea-21035

This project is focused on the study of Smith-Magenis syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that involves intellectual disability, sleep disturbance, behavioral problems, impaired satiety, and obesity.  This project is focused toward therapeutic intervention(s), including gene therapy and small molecule drug screening and will include the development and analysis of gene therapy-based treatments, in addition to the development of drug screening assays.  Model systems currently in use include induced pluripotent stem cells, neural progenitor cells, and mouse models, with the long-term goals of improving phenotypic outcomes in individuals affected by this genetic condition and related disorders.

Job Duties

•    Study design, data collection, processing and analysis.
•    Assist faculty researchers and other collaborators in planning and designing research experiments, establishing priorities and recommending schedules, time-tables and costs.
•    Presentation of project results to internal and external parties.
•    Project requires work with mice.
•    Performs statistical analyses, including selecting the appropriate analysis procedure, setting up data for analysis, judging validity and reliability of data, designing and writing programs to perform analyses, and producing written reports on the result of the analyses.
•    Effectively use available technology to facilitate the success of the project.
•    Liaison with other internal groups, outside collaborators, and others to ensure success of project.
•    Engaged writing of publications and reports.

Minimum Qualifications

• MD or Ph.D. in Basic Science, Health Science, or a related field.
• No experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

•    Bioinformatics and statistics experience
•    Previous experience with culturing of stem cells 
•    Experience with mouse husbandry and behavior 
•    Excellent organizational and project management skills
•    Ability organize data and to draft manuscripts or barns!

•    Excellent oral and written communication skills
•    Demonstrated writing proficiency
•    Experience with cell culture, gene expression studies/transcriptomics, cloning, general molecular biology techniques, and statistics.
•    Must be able to work independently and within a team.