Postdoctoral Research Associate; Proteomics and Multiomics in Neurodegeneration - Psychiatry

Position Summary

The Cruchaga lab at WashU Medicine has a fully funded Postdoctoral position to study Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disease proteomics signatures.

The Cruchaga lab generates and analyzes high-throughput multi-omic data to study neurodegeneration and diseases of the central nervous system with emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other dementias. The ultimate goal of the lab is to understand the biology of these diseases, to define novel biomarkers, and to identify novel therapeutical targets.

We have pioneered in the integration of genetics with omic data to identify proteomic signatures and develop novel predictive models for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson, and Dystonia as well as to identify novel proteins and pathways implicated on disease pathogenesis.

We are currently analyzing brain, CSF and blood, multi-omic data (transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics), from a large collection of well-characterized samples to identify novel biomarkers and causal and druggable targets.

We are seeking motivated postdocs with strong analytical skills to join our effort and generate novel insights of neurodegeneration with this unique dataset, while working in a highly dynamic multidisciplinary and collaborative environment. The new postdoctoral fellow will join a large team, currently twenty members, which is led by three faculty members and three senior scientists.

Primary

Duties & Responsibilities:

Conduct research projects focused on neurodegeneration, including plasma, CSF and brain proteomic analysis, biomarker identification using machine learning and AI approaches, and integration of proteomics with genetic data via MR, coloc and FUSION to identify causal and druggable targets.

Working Conditions: This position will be located in Dr. Cruchaga’s lab in the Neuro Genomics and Informatics Center (Department of Psychiatry) at Washington University. Work takes place in a laboratory environment with potential exposure to biological and chemical hazards. The individual must be physically able to wear protective equipment and to provide standard care to research animals.

Salary Range: Base pay is commensurate with experience.

Education: Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent terminal or doctoral degree.

Certifications: No specific certification/professional license is required for this position.

Work Experience: No specific work experience is required for this position.

Skills: Not applicable.

Driver’s License: A driver’s license is not required for this position.

• The successful applicant will hold, or shortly expect to obtain, a PhD qualification in Genetics, Bioinformatics, Computer science, Data science, Statistical Genomics or a related discipline involving the interrogation of 'omics' datasets.
• Hands-on experience with large-scale human omics (preferably related to neurodegeneration) studies is expected.
• Solid skills in at least one programming language (R, Python or Perl) and experience working in Linux and/or high‑performance cluster environments.
• A strong ability to perform analytical reasoning to extract biological insights from data‑driven approaches will be critical. In addition, familiarity to interrogate publicly available resources.

• Education:
  
  No additional education unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.
• Certifications:
  
  No additional certification/professional licenses unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.
• Work Experience:
  
  Bioinformatics or related discipline (1 Year).
• Skills:
  
  Alzheimer’s Disease, Analytical Reasoning, Bioinformatics, Biomarkers, Computer Science, Data Analysis, Genetic Research, Human Genetics, Linux, Neurodegeneration, Parkinson’s Disease, Proteomics, Python (Programming Language), Statistical Genomics, Teamwork, Work Collaboratively.

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship (where prohibited by federal law), age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.