Postdoctoral Associate- Alzheimer's Gene Therapy

at  Baylor College of Medicine

SUMMARY

We are developing gene therapy for Alzheimer’s disease targeting the earliest stages of dementia. Our approach leverages AAV as a Trojan horse to overcome the challenges of delivering peptide inhibitors across the blood-brain barrier. Proof-of-principle in genetically engineered mouse models shows the power of this strategy.
We now need dedicated scientists to help us realize the potential of gene therapy - as well as its limitations - as we work from the lab bench to reach a future in the clinic.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

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

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong background in molecular biology - DNA cloning, qPCR, RNA sequencing, Western blotting, ELISA, immunofluorescence, etc. - these techniques are fundamental to our experimental work.
• Experience with amyloid or tau biology - these proteins are key targets of our therapies.
• Experience with mouse models for Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases - these models form the basis of our studies.
• In addition to these technical skills, our ideal candidate is also highly self-motivated, detail-oriented, able to think independently, but also works well in a team.

• Designs and conducts smart, impactful experiments to identify the cost-benefit balance between route of delivery and therapeutic efficacy.
• Discovers, discusses, and deploys new research ideas towards the goal of making gene therapy a reality for neurological disease.
• Carefully collects and exhaustively analyzes experimental results to conclusively test each hypothesis.
• Plunder the literature for new ideas, methods, and resources.
• Scrutinize results, interpret outcomes, identify next steps from each experiment.
• Communicates the rationale, design, data, and impact of our work to others in the field in clear prose and visually effective figures