FDA Postdoctoral Fellowship in In Vitro Cardiotoxicology Models

Organization

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

FDA-NCTR-

All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.

9/30/2026 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A research opportunity is available immediately with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), The National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) located in Jefferson, Arkansas.

The National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), is the only FDA Center located outside the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. The one-million square foot research campus in Jefferson, Arkansas plays an important role in the missions of FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services to promote and protect public health.

6

PPD, a widely used tire antioxidant, forms 6

PPD-quinone (6

PPDQ) upon atmospheric ozone exposure. Environmental and dietary exposure to these compounds has raised significant public and regulatory concerns regarding potential human health risks. Preliminary studies using cardiomyocytes indicate that familial history may contribute to sensitivity to these environmental compounds. However, these studies with cardiomyocytes are limited in that they do not capture the roles of immune cells in the health of the cardiovascular system.

Thus, the proposed project will use a immuno-cardiac model to capture these interactions in cells derived from healthy donors and cells derived from donors with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

While 6

PPD and 6

PPDQ are linked to oxidative stress and inflammation-key drivers of CVD, their long-term, low-dose effects in humans remain unclear, particularly in individuals with preexisting cardiovascular (CV) conditions. Conventional models fail to capture complex immune-cardiac interactions necessary for mechanistic insight and population-specific risk assessment. Using isogenic iPSC-derived immuno-cardiac NAMs to compare effects in healthy and HCM cells will advance our understanding of the cardiac safety profile of 6

PPD and 6

PPDQ while providing a human-relevant platform to investigate immune-cardiac crosstalk across diverse populations.

6

PPD and 6

PPDQ are high-priority contaminants of emerging concern due to environmental and dietary exposures. Using human-relevant NAM models incorporating cardiac and immune components to assess compound safety in healthy and disease-specific contexts will provide important, mechanism-based data for risk assessment. This supports FDA's mission to protect public health by advancing predictive, human-relevant models for chemical safety evaluation.

This research also aligns with NIEHS Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) priorities to advance disease-focused environmental toxicology and identify populations with increased susceptibility. By integrating patient-derived HCM models and isogenic immuno-cardiac co-culture systems, this study addresses gene-environment interactions in vulnerable populations, filling knowledge gaps and supporting evidence-based regulatory decision-making.

• Learn to optimize the co-culture system using flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and microelectrode array (MEA) to characterize the cells.
• Learn to utilize real-time impedance and live-cell imaging to assess the effects of exposure on cells.
• Gain proficiency in the measurement of functional endpoints including beat rate, contractility, rhythm regularity, field potential duration, and arrhythmia susceptibility.
• Gain experience in the analysis of gene expression profiles and identification of affected pathways.
• Gain collaboration skills to formulate hypotheses, record experimental data, prepare reports, and interpret experimental results.
• Present research findings at local and national conferences and in journal publications.

The mentor for this opportunity is Li Pang (li.pang.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor.

2026. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

The appointment will initially be for one…