Postdoctoral Research Associate (Genetics and Genomics of Neurodegeneration) - Psychiatry

Washington University in St Louis • Forest Park, GA

8d

About The Position

The Cruchaga Lab at WashU Medicine is recruiting multiple Postdoctoral Research Associates. The NeuroGenomics and Informatics Center generates and analyzes Whole-Genome Sequencing data and high-throughput, multi-dimensional -omic data to study neurodegeneration and diseases of the central nervous system, with an emphasis on Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other dementias. The ultimate goal of the NGI is to understand the biology of these diseases, to define novel biomarkers, and to identify novel therapeutic targets. WashU Medicine is renowned for its research cohorts of neurodegenerative disorders, which include clinical, neuroimaging, and fluid biomarker phenotypes. Characterization of the genetic topography of Alzheimer's disease (AD) provides a unique opportunity to understand the disease. We are looking for investigators with expertise in Whole Genome and Exome data, colocalization, Mendelian Randomization, and TWAS/Fusion approaches to lead our effort to identify new genes involved in AD etiology. Job Description Primary Duties & Responsibilities: Information on being a postdoc at Washington University in St. Louis can be found at https://postdoc.wustl.edu/prospective-postdocs-2/ . Recent publications on the subject: Fernandez et al., “ Genetic and multi-omic resources for Alzheimer disease and related dementia from the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center ”, Sci Data. 2024 PMID: 38997326 Cruchaga et al., “Novel early-onset Alzheimer-associated genes influence risk through dysregulation of glutamate, immune activation, and intracell signaling pathways ”, Res Sq, 2024. PMID: 38883718 Wang et al., “ Proteo-genomics of soluble TREM2 in cerebrospinal fluid provides novel insights and identifies novel modulators for Alzheimer's disease ”, Mol Neurodegenr. 2024. PMID: 38172904 Ray et al. “ The Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Whole-Genome Sequencing Project: Study design and methodology ”, Alzheimers Dement. 2023, PMID: 37390458 Ali et al., “ Large multi-ethnic genetic analyses of amyloid imaging identify new genes for Alzheimer disease ”, Acta Neuropathol Commun, 2023 PMID: 37101235

Requirements

• Ph.D., M.D. Or Equivalent Terminal Or Doctoral Degree.
• A PhD in Genetics, Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Data Science, Statistical Genomics, or a related discipline involving the interrogation of ‘omics’ datasets, or expect to obtain a degree in the near future.
• Hands-on experience using PLINK, SKAT, FUSION, BWA, and/or GATK with large-scale human genomic or other omics (preferably related to neurodegeneration) studies.

Nice To Haves

• Experience performing colocalization, Mendelian randomization.
• 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.
• Familiarity with interrogation of publicly available resources (highly beneficial).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees