The Landers Lab at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (https://www.umassmed.edu/landerslab/) has immediate post-doctoral positions open in gene modulation therapy for ALS, Parkinson’s disease and other related neurodegenerative diseases.  These include gene suppression (e.g. antisense oligonucleotides activating RNAse H), gene augmentation (small activating RNAs), and gene editing (e.g. gene editing, base editing, splice modification).  Our explicit goal is to develop novel technologies to advance therapeutics for numerous human diseases rapidly from pre-clinical studies to pilot studies.

Candidates should be creative, highly organized, hard-working, and motivated to respond to changes within the rapidly evolving field of gene therapy. Applicants must also work independently and coordinate multiple projects, concurrently. Strong writing, verbal, and interpersonal skills are required. We offer excellent training opportunities and a competitive salary depending on experience and track record. If you have any of the above attributes and skill sets, and believe you are a good fit for our research program.

Preferred qualifications:

• D. in Neuroscience, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, or Related Discipline.
• Skilled in conventional molecular methods such as quantitative methods for qualitative and quantitative analysis of gene expression (qPCR, ddPCR, and Western blotting), gene cloning;
• Experience culturing neurogenic cell lines;
• Some experience in culturing and differentiation of human iPSC to neurons is preferred;
• Experience with cell culture and molecular biology techniques
• Experience with growing and differentiating iPSC to neurons is preferred
• Experience with developing therapeutic oligonucleic acids; understanding aspects of oligonucleic acid synthesis and purification.
• Experience with transcriptomic approaches including bulk RNA-Seq, scRNA-Seq, RNA isolation and quantitation and bioinformatic analysis of data;
• Ability to compile and analyze data using standard statistical methods.

UMass Chan offers strong support and mentoring, a collaborative research environment, a competitive salary with benefits, and visa sponsorship available. 

Interested applicants should submit the following materials via email to Susan Jacobs (susan.jacobs@umassmed.edu) and John Landers (john.landers@umassmed.edu):  a cover letter describing current research activities and your interest in this position, a current CV (including publications), and contact information for three references, one of which should be your Ph.D. advisor.