Investigate and modulate the cellular pathways perturbed by neurodegenerative disease risk factors using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural cell types. A postdoctoral position is available in the laboratory of Dr. Priyanka Narayan at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, USA.

Genome wide association studies have identified genetic factors that increase risk for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. A number of these risk factors are shared between multiple neurodegenerative diseases with diverse pathologies and clinical presentations. Our lab works on multiple questions including: (1) How do disease risk factors alter the cellular pathways to increase susceptibility to disease processes? (2) Can we identify genetic and chemical modulators of these cellular perturbations to prevent or reverse the detrimental effects of risk factors? We use a combination of genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and human iPSC-derived neuronal and glial cell types to answer these questions. We envision that our findings can accelerate the development of novel therapeutic or preventative strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.