Job ID: 118495

Post-doctoral position on Neuronal/immunoregulation of metabolism and behavior

Position: Post-doctoral Position

Deadline: 1 September 2024

Employment Start Date: 1 May 2024

City: St. Petersburg Florida

Country: United States

Institution: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Department:

Description:

The laboratory of Matthew Poy at the new Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida is seeking two post-doctoral fellows for a project on the microRNA pathway and its role in neuronal/immunoregulation of energy metabolism and behavior.

The metabolic syndrome is characterized by obesity, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance and alterations to both insulin and leptin signaling cascades can contribute to a pathogenic state. Previous studies by our group have shown that microRNAs are highly regulated in the pancreatic islets of insulin-resistant mouse models and in the islets of type 2 diabetic human subjects and play a key role in the growth and function of the pancreatic beta cell (Tattikota et al. Cell Metabolism, 2014). Many of the genes targeted by microRNAs in the endocrine pancreas are abundantly expressed in the CNS, suggesting these factors serve in a similar capacity across multiple tissues. In addition, the susceptibility to obesity is linked to genes regulating neurotransmission, pancreatic beta-cell function and energy homeostasis and we recently characterized the role of CADM1 and CADM2 in the regulation of body weight (Rathjen et al. Nature Neuroscience, 2017; Yan et al. Molecular Metabolism, 2018). Future aims are directed towards understanding the role of the microRNA pathway in the CNS and its interaction with immune cell populations in managing systemic energy metabolism, metabolic stress responses as well as cognition and behavior.

Applicants must have an M.D. or Ph.D. in a relevant subject (i.e. Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Physiology, or Genetics) and a publication history. Excellent organization and record-keeping skills, a meticulous approach to practical work, the ability to work effectively and flexibly as part of a team, and ability to plan and execute experimental research independently are required.

Interested applicants should provide a CV, a cover letter describing career goals, and contact information for at least two referees to: mpoy1@jhmi.edu.

References:

Rathjen T, Yan X, Kononenko NL, Ku MC, Song K, Ferrarese L, Tarallo V, Puchkov D, Kochlamazashvili G, Brachs S, Varela L, Szigeti-Buck K, Yi CX, Schreiver SC, Tattikota SG, Carlo AS, Moroni M, Siemens J, Heuser A, van der Weyden L, Birkenfeld AL, Niendorf T, Poulet JF, Horvath TL, Tschöp MH, Heinig M, Trajkovski M, Haucke V, and Poy MN. Regulation of body weight and energy homeostasis by neuronal Cell adhesion molecule 1. Nature Neuroscience. 2017 Aug; 20(8):1096-1103. doi: 10.1038/nn.4590.

Yan X, Wang Z, Schmidt V, Gauert A, Willnow TE, Heinig M, Poy MN. Cadm2 regulates body weight and energy homeostasis in mice. Mol Metabolism. 2018 Feb; 8:180-188. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2017.11.010.