POSITION SUMMARY

The Buck Institute has an opening for a Research Associate to study cellular aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the lab of Dr. Kai Zhou.

The Zhou lab uses budding yeast as the main model organism to study the cell biology of aging with an emphasis on proteostasis and mitochondria. We also have a broad interest in other cellular structures and aim to discover new inter-organellar communications/interactions. Proteostasis defect and mitochondrial dysfunction are two conserved hallmarks of aging and many neurodegenerative diseases, including AD.

Budding yeast is an ideal model to study cellular aging and rejuvenation processes: both happen at the same time along the axis of asymmetric cell division, which generates an aging mother cell and a rejuvenated daughter cell. This amazing model organism is great for high-throughput screening to crack the fundamental mechanism of aging. We use multiple cutting-edge imaging methods, high-throughput screening, biochemistry, bioinformatics, and machine learning to address systematically the response of cellular proteome towards stress, aging and AD-related proteins.

We are interested in questions related to protein folding, protein misfolding/aggregation, phase separation, mitochondrial biogenesis and dysfunctions, as well as other cell biological questions, in response to stress, aging, and AD.

TRAINING & CAREER OPPORTUNITY

Initially, the Research Associate will receive training from senior researchers in the lab, followed by either running their own independent project(s) and/or contributing to the project of a senior researcher. The goal is for the Research Associate to author 1-2 publications, with either first or co-authorship, within 2 years to accelerate their future research career. We therefore seek candidates who can spend 2+ years in the lab to benefit from this training with enough time to complete their project. Your success is the common interest we share! Please view the Zhou lab webpage for a list of recent publications.

ABOUT THE ZHOU LAB

The Zhou lab is establishing a new research program related to aging. Our diverse lab of young scientists from many different countries enjoys making cool scientific discoveries. We believe this cultural diversity will enable us to push the frontier of science for humankind.