Postdoctoral fellow

We are looking for a postdoctoral fellow to join our lab. The position is offered for 4 years but can be extended for further 2 years (6 years in total). The suitable candidate will combine interdisciplinary approaches with excellent tractability of zebrafish heart to study a fundamental problem – how organ form and function emerge during development. They will use advanced microscopic techniques, image analysis, genetic manipulations, biophysical approaches and collaborate with theoreticians to address this question. The successful candidate should be keen in pursuing collaborative research and should be a good team player.

The overarching goal of our lab is to study how functional organs are built to sustain life during embryonic development. This is a long-standing problem in biology with significant implications for tissue engineering and birth defects. To solve this fundamental problem, we use a well-suited model system, the developing zebrafish heart, as it is amenable to state-of-the-art optical, biophysical, and genetic manipulations. We take a systems biology approach by integrating tools from tissue mechanics, developmental genetics, transcriptomics, biophysics, and predictive theoretical modelling. Using these approaches, we dissect the morphogenesis of complex organs like the heart in exceptional detail, within the physiological context of a living embryo. Some of the fundamental questions we seek to address include:

1) Feedback between mechanics, cell fate dynamics, and geometry driving tissue patterning

2) How 3D topological meshworks are shaped, constrained, and canalized

3) How nuclear integrity is sustained in a developing beating heart

4) Morphogenesis and Mechanics of organ scaling and regeneration

5) Bioelectricity of Morphogenesis.

6) Mechano-metabolism of Heart Morphogenesis

You will address one of these questions using advanced microscopic techniques, image analysis, genetic/optical manipulations, biophysical approaches, and in collaboration with theoreticians. The specific details and aims of the project will be driven by your interest and training. If you have a strong background in advanced imaging approaches, image analysis techniques, tissue morphogenesis/mechanics, we encourage you to apply

We have access to state-of-the-art facilities and technology platforms including Advanced light microscopy, High throughput sequencing, Bioinformatics and Image analysis help desk. The Francis Crick is a modern, world class biomedical research institute in central London. The Crick runs an exceptional postdoc training program, designed to prepare the postdocs for their future career with many trainings and career development opportunities.

For further details about the project and how to apply, use this link

https://www.crick.ac.uk/research/labs/rashmi-priya

or simply get in touch – rashmi.priya@crick.ac.uk.

Closing date: Please note this is a rolling advert with no specific closing date.