POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE

School of Medicine Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine is the youngest of the nation's top medical schools. Ranked sixth among medical schools in the nation, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe. Composed of more than 2,500 faculty physicians and researchers, more than 1,300 students, and more than 6,000 staff, the Duke University School of Medicine along with the Duke University School of Nursing, Duke University Health System and the Private Diagnostic Clinic (PDC) comprise Duke Health. a world-class academic medical center. The Health System encompasses Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Primary Care, Duke Home and Hospice, Duke Health and Wellness, and multiple affiliations.

Postdoctoral Associate - 

The Berger lab at Duke University Medical Center (https://anesthesiology.duke.edu/research/berger-lab ) is looking for a talented postdoc or research scientist with experience in proteomics analysis or similar ‘omics analysis and/or statistical background, to work on a new NIH R01 funded project “APOE4-dependent regulation of CSF Complement Pathway Activation in the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease”. This project seeks to understand the effect of APOE4 allele copy number on CSF complement protein levels and pathway activation throughout adult human life, based on our preliminary data (PMID 33337362). The rationale behind this work is that excessive complement-mediated synaptic pruning in APOE4 carriers could increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a hypothesis supported not only by our preliminary human data but also by data from multiple mouse models from several labs. This work will involve the analysis of both targeted and unbiased mass spec-based proteomic data obtained from ~500 CSF samples from middle age APOE4 heterozygotes (N=200), homozygotes (N=100) and non-carriers (N=200). This is one of the largest sample sets in the world of CSF from healthy middle age individuals with 0, 1 or 2 copies of the APOE4 allele, from hundreds of human CSF samples comes from several of our studies that have obtained CSF, and from collaborators across the USA and Europe.

 Additional aims of this project will study the relationship between CSF complement pathway activation and long term cognitive decline (independent of A and tau pathologies), and determine the effect of modulating APOE signaling in vivo on postoperative CNS complement activation in older adults (using unique samples from our MARBLE trial- see PMID 32417770). This is a collaborative project together with Dr Beth Stevens’ lab at Harvard and Dr. Henrik Zetterberg’s group in Sweden. The postdoc will benefit from rich collaborative interactions with other leading biostatisticians/bio-informaticians in: 1) Duke Center for the Study of Aging (statistics core headed by Dr Carl Pieper), 2) the Duke Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design (BERD) Methods Core (led by Dr Gina-Maria Pomann), 3) the newly NIH-funded Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) Data and Statistics Core (led by Dr Michael Lutz), and 4) the Duke Anesthesiology department statistical core (led by Dr Yi-Ju Li).

 This is an excellent opportunity for anyone whose PhD work (or recent work) included ‘omics analysis (especially neuro proteomics) or similar statistical approaches. The actual mass spectroscopy assays will be performed by the Duke proteomics facility for this work, though opportunities exist for the postdoc to learn about the core facility mass spec rig and to learn about how to run these samples from the core faculty staff. The postdoc or research scientific will receive full benefits (including health insurance) from Duke University Medical Center, and will benefit from rich collaboration with the Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Center and the neuroscience community at Duke. 

Min Degree Requirements:  Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate (e.g. Sc.D., M.D., D.V.M.). 

Other Credential/Experiential Requirements:  The incumbent must be a true post-doctoral fellow registered with the Post Doc Office and per the following requirements:

• The term of this appointment is limited (5 years with a possible extension for an additional year)

• The appointment involves substantially full-time research or scholarship, which may include teaching responsibilities.

• The appointment is viewed as preparatory for a full time academic or research career.

• The appointment is not part of a clinical research training program, unless research training under the supervision of a senior mentor is a primary purpose of the appointment.

• The appointee works under the supervision of a scholar or a department at Duke University.

• The appointee has the freedom, and is expected to publish the results of his or her research or scholarship during the period of the appointment.

 
Minimum Qualifications
Education

See job description for education requirements.

Experience

See job description for requirements.

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