Job ID: 117421

Post-doctoral position in the field of neural stem cell metabolism, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Position: Post-doctoral Position

Deadline: 10 February 2024

Employment Start Date: 1 March 2024

Contract Length: 3 years, initial contract 1 year, renewable

City: Lausanne

Country: Switzerland

Institution: University of Lausanne

Department: Department of Biomedical Sciences

Description:

Metabolism has emerged as a key player in the regulation of stem cells. Our laboratory’s focus lays on neural stem cells, which generate neurons and astrocytes during brain development and persist throughout adulthood. We are studying the intrinsic and extrinsic metabolic regulation of neurogenesis (further reading: Petrelli, Scandella et al. Science Advances 2023, Scandella, Petrelli et al, TEM 2023, Madsen Ramosaj & Knobloch, Development 2021). We have a specific interest in lipid metabolism and have recently shown that lipid droplets (LDs), the lipid storing organelles, play a crucial role for adult neural stem cells (Ramosaj Madsen et al. Nat. Commun. 2021). We furthermore have generated an exciting novel endogenous LD reporter mouse line (Madsen et al., BioRxiv 2022), which allows the staining-free visualization of LDs in living and fixed tissues and cells. We could show that LDs are highly abundant in the healthy brain, which has opened a lot of questions about their role for brain development and normal brain function.

We are using innovative techniques such as virus-mediated gene expression in vitro and in vivo, time-lapse imaging, single cell RNA sequencing, as well as proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic approaches. To tackle our questions, we use various mouse models as well as human iPSC-derived brain organoids.

This postdoctoral project will focus on the role of lipid metabolism and fatty acid beta-oxidation in neural stem cells during brain development, working mainly with human iPSC-derived neural stem cells and brain organoids.

Webpage: https://wp.unil.ch/knobloch-lab/

Twitter: Marlen Knobloch@KnoblochLab