The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center is seeking an investigator to join a team of clinician scientists, computational biologists, statistical geneticists, cell biologists, molecular biologists and protein chemists/biophysicists. The goal of the team is to understand the fundamental biology of neurodegenerative diseases, especially Alzheimer disease. The concept is that this understanding will form the basis for future attempts to build effective diagnostics and therapeutics. The current principal approach of this team is to identify genetic variants associated with risk, resilience or resistance to these diseases, as well as genetic variants that modulate the disease phenotype (age of onset, specific clinical or pathological features), and to uncover mechanisms of action mediated by these variants.

The successful candidate will bring complementary skills and interests that further enhance the capacity of the team to delve more deeply into disease pathobiology. Specifically, the successful candidate will apply their expertise to investigate the functional effects of genetic variants (or pools of genetic variants) that have been nominated by prior genetic studies (GWAS, WGS et cetera) and then further filtered/enriched by computational methods. Several different potential approaches can be envisaged.

Other responsibilities include:

• Will collaboratively engage with existing expertise in clinical research (Neurology, neuropathology, neuropsychology), statistical genetics, computational biology, cellular biology (including spatial multi-omics) and biochemistry (protein biochemistry, metabolomics, lipidomics, neuro-inflammation);
• Will work especially closely with core faculty of the Carol and Gene Ludwig Center to generate ideas for new multi-PI collaborative efforts to uncover mechanisms leading to dysregulation and resilience in neurodegeneration
• Participate in the intellectual activities of the Carol and Gene Ludwig Center including participation in weekly lab meetings with other labs, monthly Ludwig Scholar’s and Taub Institute seminars and annual symposia,
• Participate in/peer review Ludwig pilot grant program.
• Grow their own research program through internal and external grant applications, and through the hiring and supervision of their own lab staff;
• Apply for research grants to support their salary, staff’s salary and equipment/consumables.
• Supervise and mentor of undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral learners (and as appropriate, other faculty).

About The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center for Research on Neurodegeneration:

The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center for Research on Neurodegeneration (CGLC) was established in 2022 and is located in the heart of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center within the Department of Neurology. The Center is led by Dr. Elizabeth Bradshaw, Co-Director and Adler Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences; Dr. Peter St George-Hyslop, MD, FRCPC, FRS, Co-Director and Belle and Murray Nathan Professor of Neurology, Dr. Vilas Menon, Co-Director and Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences, Dr. Richard Mayeux, MD, MSc, Chair of the Department of Neurology, along with twelve Ludwig Scholars. Together, this leadership team provides strategic vision and scientific oversight to advance the Center’s mission.

The Center’s mission is to define the molecular and cellular mechanisms of Alzheimer’s Disease and related neurodegenerative diseases and to share knowledge with others to facilitate translation into novel biomarkers and therapeutics.

At the core of the CGLC’s mission is the support of high-risk, high-reward research through Pilot Grant program, fostering innovative translational studies designed to uncover the cellular and molecular mechanisms driving neurodegenerative disease. The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center’s goal is to cultivate a dynamic research community focused on understanding the mechanisms of neurodegeneration and translating these insights into clinically impactful tools. By harnessing internal CU resources, we are creating a collaborative hub that integrates neuroimmunology, functional genomics, computational biology, and animal model expertise—leveraging this multidimensional approach to tackle key questions in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and neurodegeneration.

The CGLC’s future home, currently under construction and set to open in Fall 2026, will be housed in the state-of-the-art, fully electric 55,000-square-foot Vagelos Innovation Laboratories at CUIMC. The building will feature a dedicated CGLC research floor, providing a cutting-edge environment to support ongoing and future scientific advancements.

Requirements & Qualifications:

• PhD, MD PhD, or MD degree;
• Completed postdoctoral training in an area of molecular biology, cell biology, biophysics, bioengineering in the general areas of functional genomics, fundamental neurobiology or translational neurobiology;
• Track record of publication of impactful peer-reviewed research papers (career stage dependent);
• Track record of successful acquisition of Peer-reviewed grants (career stage dependent);
• Track record of productive collaborative work in multidisciplinary team settings;
• Demonstration of original (?out-of-the-box?) thinking on research topics. Demonstration of resilience, curiosity, innovation and receptiveness to experimental risk-taking to pursue new ideas.

Potential Specific Areas of Special Expertise:

• The creation and implementation of high throughput functional screens to determine the role of genes nominated by GWAS and WGS as a disease relevant (and the disease-relevance of sequence variants in them). These methods could include, but are not limited to:
  • Multimodal perturbation-Seq methods such as Perturb-Seq, CROP-Seq;
  • STING-Seq and related methods for non-coding loci;
  • Variant level CRISPR-based screens;
  • Applications of imaging and proteomics to characterise the proteome and posttranslational landscape in specific cells/subcellular compartments in health and disease.
• Disease modelling in human cells to generate platforms for short-term and long-term investigation of disease relevant variants on healthy and pathological interactions between astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, neurons, synaptic assemblies. These efforts will also validate comparisons with nonhuman vertebral models. These methods could include but are not limited to:
  • 2D or 3D multi-cell type cultures possibly in microfluidic arrays, organoids, assembloids xenotransplantation;
  • Models of cellular aging.

Applicants are required to create an applicant profile and upload a CV  in Columbia?s online Academic Search and Recruiting (ASR) system. See preferred CV formatting guidelines: CUIMC CV Format-2.17.22.  In addition, applicants should upload a Cover Letter, a Research Statement, and Other Support (document listing active funded projectes, past completed projects, and pendng grant submissions).

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Pay Transparency Disclosure

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training.  The above hiring range represents the University?s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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