Research Associate or Postdoctoral Fellowship: Vision
POSITION FILLED
Research Associate or Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University
Overview
A high proportion of the elderly suffer from age-related loss of vision. We elucidate relationships between environmental stress, physiologic stress responses, protein quality control and eye function in order to discover mechanisms of aging, and nutritional and other means to delay age-related vision impairments such as age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Projects are mature and much data is already available. Tufts Medical Center is a highly collaborative and productive environment in downtown Boston, within ~20 minutes from Harvard, MIT, Boston Univ. The lab is funded by NIH, USDA, several foundations.
Position Description
We seek outstanding candidates with a recent PhD in Biochemistry or a related discipline to work on one of the following funded projects:
1) Discovering novel stress-induced ubiquitin and autophagy enzyme interactions in response to glycative stress.
2) Regulatory mechanisms of eye lens differentiation,
3) Elucidate interactions between dietary glycemia, metabolomics, microbiome, AMD, cataract, and aging in animal studies and/or human populations, including planning randomized intervention studies.
The following are important: training in biochemistry or a related discipline, bioinformatics, histology, analyzing large data sets, animal husbandry. Candidates should have at least two English language first authored papers and 1 year of experience. A 2-year commitment is required. Preference will be given to candidates who have permits to reside in the USA. All candidates must have or obtain a suitable visa.
Additional Benefits
We have an active Postdoc and Research Associate organization and fellows that have completed their training have moved on to positions at prestigious academic and industrial institutions.
Selected recent papers from our group
Rowan, S., et al., (2020) A low glycemic diet protects disease-prone Nrf2-deficient mice against age-related macular degeneration, Free Radical Biology and Medicine PMID: 32068111 DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2020.02.010
Aragonès, G. et al., Autophagic receptor p62 protects against glycation-derived toxicity and enhances viability, Aging Cell, PMID: 33146912 DOI: 10.1111/acel.13257
Whitcomb, E. A. et al. Stabilization of p27(Kip1)/CDKN1B by UBCH7/UBE2L3 catalyzed ubiquitinylation: a new paradigm in cell-cycle control. FASEB J. (2019). PMID: 30113882.
Rowan, S. et al. Involvement of a gut–retina axis in protection against dietary glycemia-induced age-related macular degeneration. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2017). PMID: 28507131.
Lyu, L. et al. Unfolded-protein response-associated stabilization of p27(Cdkn1b) interferes with lens fiber cell denucleation, leading to cataract. FASEB J. (2016). PMID: 26590164.
Liu, K. et al. Altered ubiquitin causes perturbed calcium homeostasis, hyperactivation of calpain, dysregulated differentiation, and cataract. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2015). PMID: 25583491.
Chaffee, B. R. et al. Nuclear removal during terminal lens fiber cell differentiation requires CDK1 activity: appropriating mitosis-related nuclear disassembly. Development (2014). PMID: 25139855.
Our Center is currently officially open with restricted access. Training can begin in January 2021. We will start part time and move to full time when we are permitted to work in the building.
Application Instructions
Please send a CV, names of three references (including PhD advisor and post doc mentor) and a list of grades received in Graduate science courses to all three individuals below.
Allen Taylor, Ph.D.
Director of the Nutrition and Vision Research Team
Professor of Nutrition, Chemical and Molecular Biology, and Ophthalmology at Tufts University
allen.taylor@tufts.edu
Sheldon Rowan, Ph.D.
Scientist II, Nutrition and Vision Research Team
Sheldon.Rowan@tufts.edu
Elizabeth Whitcomb, Ph.D.
Scientist III, Nutrition and Vision Research Team
Elizabeth Whitcomb@tufts.edu
For questions about these positions, please contact Dr. Taylor at 617-784-3199 3-5 PM EST.
Tufts University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our faculty. Members of underrepresented minority groups are encouraged to apply.