Jobs

Mouse2Human Postdoc Positions

Posted 13 Feb 2025

Employer

Western University - MouseTRAP

Location

London, Ontario, Canada

Principal Investigator

Drs. Tim Bussey, Adrian Owen, and Lisa Saksida

Contact

Please send the following materials to Gregg Paisley, BrainsCAN Administrative Officer, at gpaisle@uwo.ca:

• A statement of interest, indicated if you are perusing the mouse or human focused position.
• Curriculum Vitae
• Names and contact information of at least two references

The first cohort of applications will be reviewed starting March 31, 2025, with selected candidates notified for interviews no later than April 15, 2025.

Description

Two full-time, two-year senior postdoctoral positions are available with the Mouse Translational Research Accelerator Platform (MouseTRAP) team at Western University. These positions involve validating a harmonized battery of identical or near-identical cognitive tests that can be used in mouse models and human patients to characterize disease pathology and therapeutic targets. Successful candidates will work with principal investigators Dr. Tim Bussey, Dr. Adrian Owen, and Dr. Lisa Saksida.

The Mouse2Human team at MouseTRAP is building on preliminary work demonstrating that testing mice and humans on near-identical cognitive tasks is feasible and can reveal similar impairments in both groups. They are now scaling these efforts to validate the use of these tests in clinical settings for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. This project will involve:

• Defining appropriate cognitive tasks for various disease pathologies as well as across the lifespan in healthy populations;
• Developing and refining cross-species touchscreen tasks that are validated in both mouse and humans;
• Designing and implementing experiments to demonstrate these tasks have predictive value in populations with neurological disorders, including investigating traditional cognitive assessments vs. touchscreen assessments in the context of MCI, AD, PD, etc.;
• Validating the predictive value of these tasks in affected populations is critical for developing co-clinical trials, where next-generation humanized mouse models and a specific battery of cognitive tests will be studied in parallel with human clinical cohorts.

Responsibilities

With the goal of creating a harmonized battery, one position will be dedicated to mouse task validation, while the other will focus on human task validation. Although these are distinct roles, the cross-species integration will require extensive cooperation and collaboration within the Mouse2Human team.

The selected candidates will leverage the MouseTRAP platform designed to address the challenge of translating neuroognitive research from mouse models to human patients. This platform uses a touchscreen-based cognitive testing system that enables the flexible presentation of comprehensive test batteries, bridging the gap between preclinical studies and cognitive assessments in humans. This approach ensures high translational relevance, advancing the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, and paving the way for targeted interventions.

• Appointment: Two-year postdoctoral position.
• Salary: $70,000 per year plus benefits.
• Start Date: Immediate availability preferred, but a start date as late as September 1, 2025, is acceptable.

Western is committed to employment equity and diversity in the workplace and welcomes applications from women, members of racialized groups/visible minorities, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation, and persons of any gender identity or expression.

Position Details:

• Appointment: Two-year postdoctoral position.
• Salary: $70,000 per year plus benefits.
• Start Date: Immediate availability preferred, but a start date as late as September 1, 2025, is acceptable.

Requirements

• A Ph.D. in psychology, neuroscience, pharmacology, or a related field.
• Expertise in cognitive testing, with preference for experience in mouse and human studies depending on the application stream.
• Strong computational skills, with proficiency in programming highly desirable.