Postdoctoral Scientist - Ajami Lab - Department of Neurology

Postdoctoral Scientist Opportunity

Are you ready to be a part of breakthrough research? Take action now by applying to this great opportunity!

Cedars-Sinai offers scientists unparalleled access to ground breaking technologies, facilities, and resources for conducting research related to an impressive range of diseases and disorders, from cancer, cardiology, and digestive diseases, to genetics, genomics, neurosciences, and women's health.

Dr. Bahareh Ajami invites you to consider this postdoctoral scientist opportunity to join her dynamic team!

The Ajami Lab is establishing a new research program at Cedars-Sinai focused on immune mechanisms of hearing loss.

The Ajami Laboratory at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is seeking an outstanding and highly motivated postdoctoral fellow to join our growing neuroimmunology research program.

The successful candidate will join a vibrant and expanding research program supported by a recently awarded NIH R01 (6th percentile) and an ALS Breakthrough Research Grant from the Milken Institute. These projects investigate how the innate immune system regulates neurodegeneration, with a particular focus on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Using human postmortem tissues, spatial transcriptomics, spatial proteomics, single-cell genomics, CRISPR genome engineering, and human iPSC-derived microglia and motor neuron models, our goal is to identify novel therapeutic targets that can be translated into effective immunomodulatory therapies for ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases.

This position offers an exceptional opportunity to work at the interface of neuroimmunology, spatial biology, genomics, stem cell biology, and translational neuroscience while contributing to highly collaborative, multidisciplinary research with direct clinical relevance.

About the role

Working independently but in close collaboration and in consultation with the principal investigator and other research scientists, the postdoctoral scientist will perform routine and sophisticated laboratory procedures throughout this training period. The incumbent may develop, adapt, and implement new research techniques and protocols. This position is not responsible for generating grant funds.

The successful candidate will participate in projects involving:

• Human postmortem brain and spinal cord tissues
• Spatial transcriptomics
• Spatial proteomics (CODEX)
• Single-cell RNA sequencing
• Human iPSC-derived microglia and motor neuron models
• CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering
• Multiomic data integration
• Therapeutic target discovery and validation
• Neuroimmune mechanisms of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases

Our laboratory has established unique human datasets and multidisciplinary collaborations to investigate how distinct microglial states regulate neuronal vulnerability and identify therapeutic targets for ALS and related neurodegenerative disorders.

Primary duties and responsibilities:

• Designs and performs experiments.
• Maintains experimental records and documentation and analyzes the results with the principal investigator.
• Analyzes interpret, summarizes, and compiles data.
• Operates and maintains equipment and instruments.
• May observe MD-patient or MD-human research subject interactions as it pertains directly to research being performed.

Education, experience, and skills:

• Doctorate degree, required. A Ph.D. degree (or equivalent) in neuroscience, immunology, molecular biology, genetics, stem cell biology, bioengineering, computational biology, or a related discipline.
• A strong publication record demonstrating research productivity.
• Excellent communication and scientific writing skills.
• The ability to work independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary research environment.
• Neuroimmunology experience.
• Human iPSC culture and differentiation.
• CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing.
• Single-cell or spatial omics technologies.
• Molecular and cellular biology.
• Bioinformatics and computational analysis.
• Mouse models of neurological disease.

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