High Throughput Drug Screening for Neurodegenerative Diseases Across the Lifespan

Stanford Neurology is a world leader in Neuroscience research and clinical care, particularly in the areas of Neurodegeneration, Brain Rejuvenation, Epilepsy and Pediatric Neurology. We are seeking a highly motivated and qualified post-doctoral scholar to lead studies using state-of-the-art high throughput drug screening technology to identify novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, including a rare pediatric-onset disease (beta-propeller associated neurodegeneration, BPAN), and more commonly encountered adult-onset diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

BPAN is a severe and life-threatening neurodegenerative disease that manifests during childhood, with epilepsy, developmental delay, Alzheimer’s disease-like dementia and Parkinson’s disease-like movement impairments. There are no effective treatments to slow or reverse the course of BPAN. Our work on BPAN will provide insight into the underlying biology and potential treatment of other neurodegenerative diseases that commonly affect adults, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

The candidate who is selected for the position will be responsible for (1) engineering BPAN genetic variants into cell lines; (2) developing cellular assays including of autophagy function and cellular survival; (3) working with the Stanford high throughput drug screening core facility; (4) testing compounds of interest in iPSC-derived neurons and (5) collaborating with multiple labs to coordinate further in vitro and in vivo testing of select compounds in preclinical studies.

Major responsibilities:

• Create and maintain cell lines expressing BPAN-associated pathogenic variants in the WDR45 gene, using cell types such as fibroblasts and human iPSCs
• Reprogram human iPSCs to various neuronal cell types for use in drug assays
• Design and refine cellular assays of autophagy and related cellular functions for high throughput drug testing
• Collaborate on a regular basis with other Stanford labs and core facilities at Stanford including the Stanford University Cardiovascular Institute Biobank, the Stanford Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and the Stanford High Throughput Knowledge Screening Center.  Collaborating individuals include physicians, scientists, staff and trainees.
• Present findings regularly at lab meetings and conferences
• Contribute to creating figures, writing research manuscripts and grant proposals.
• Contribute to training and mentorship of students and research assistants.