Interdisciplinary PhD position in iPSC modeling of human neurodevelopmental disorders in Zürich

The BioEngineering Laboratory at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering is inviting applications for a PhD position at the intersection of human cellular modeling, large-scale electrophysiology, gene therapy, and multi-modal data analysis.

The position is planned for 3 - 4 years (PhD). The starting date is flexible, but must be before November 2022.

The PhD project will be carried out at the ETH Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel and involve close collaboration with groups at the Roche Institute for Translational Bioengineering (ITB), the Roche Innovation Center (pRED), as well as with the ETH spinoff MaxWell Biosystems.

In the framework of an Innosuisse project involving industry research partners, you will characterize 2D and 3D iPSC-derived human cellular models of Rett and dup15q syndrome using high-throughput large-scale electrophysiology, patch-clamping and single-cell genomic methods – and probe a phenotype rescue using pharmacological and gene-therapeutic interventions. You will perform extracellular high-density microelectrode-array recordings to study the development of neuronal networks derived from patients and matched healthy controls. Besides electrophysiological microelectrode-array recordings, several other methods, such as immunohistochemistry, confocal imaging, and patch-clamp measurements will be used to functionally characterize individual neurons and their contribution to network activity in 2D and 3D.

You should have a background in neuroscience, stem cell biology or molecular/cellular biology. Moreover, desirable skills include expertise in cell culture, immunohistochemistry, electrophysiology, and knowledge of statistical data analysis. Moreover, the candidate must be able to fluently communicate in English (oral and written) and be willing to work in a highly interactive international team. Academic excellence, a professional work attitude and a proactive and self-driven nature are expected.

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