Assistant Professor - Department of Neuroscience

About the Job

The Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota Medical School is seeking candidates interested in establishing a translational research program relevant to Parkinson’s Disease (PD) to fill a position for an Assistant Professor, Academic Track with focus on Research.

This is a 12-month, full-time appointment.

The department spans a wide range of research questions with a proven dedication to team science and collaborative work.

The Department of Neuroscience has a sustained reputation for research excellence, as it is 7th among neuroscience departments nationally based on the 2024 Blue Ridge rankings. For this position, we are searching for outstanding candidates, regardless of research focus, who will promote synergy across disciplines in our medical school to advance foundational science and discovery as well as preclinical research. Basic scientists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines are encouraged to apply.

The new faculty will integrate with the Institute for Translational Neuroscience, which supports research at the interface between the bench and the bedside. Additional strengths at the University of Minnesota include: MnDRIVE initiative, which supports research and translation relevant to neuromodulation for brain conditions; the UMN Viral Vector and Cloning Core, which allows onsite vector production and development; the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, which is at the forefront of high magnetic field strength imaging in both humans and animals, and the UMN Imaging Center, which is a Nikon Center of Excellence. The Department of Neuroscience also leads the Medical Discovery Team (MDT) on Addiction and the Medical Discovery Team (MDT) on Optical Imaging - two world-class, neuroscience-based programs that have established many interdisciplinary and collaborative new laboratories at UMN. The University also offers Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development with the resources and expertise to develop new drug therapies; the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which provides resources to implement new treatment strategies and is a conduit to promote the community-wide understanding and application of scientific discoveries; Minnesota is also the home of multiple biomedical research companies and world-renowned hospitals. The University of Minnesota is dedicated to improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, and the Department of Neuroscience has developed a number of programs in this area.

Assignment and Duties

The candidate's responsibilities include Research, Teaching/Integration/Outreach, and Service.

• Research: The candidate will initially be funded as part of a large, multi-institutional research team to generate, validate, and distribute preclinical mouse models tailored to accelerate validation and therapeutic R&D for emerging gene/protein targets relevant to Parkinson’s disease (PD). Pathways of interest include those involving alpha-synuclein dysregulation, neuroinflammation, lysosome/endosome function, synapse function/morphology, ubiquitination and mitochondrial function/dysfunction. During this initial period of full funding support, the Department expects that the candidate will devote their research efforts to ensuring that the goals of this PD modeling project are achieved and to assisting with the day-to-day coordination of all team efforts. The candidate should work towards developing aspects of the program clearly identified with them, in which they can assume a programmatic leadership role. Furthermore, the candidate should work towards developing extramural funding mechanisms that allow them to pursue their areas of interest throughout their career.
• Teaching/Integration/Outreach: The candidate is expected to serve as the main point of contact between the University of Minnesota preclinical PD mouse modeling projects, team members at other institutions, and the agencies funding this work. Furthermore, the candidate is expected to liaise with other funded PD teams within a global research network and will be expected to attend and participate in an annual meeting of international PD investigators.
• Service: The Department expects that during the initial period of funding support the candidate will monitor the PD modeling team milestones, manage data, track progress towards distributing the resulting preclinical models, and ensure compliance.

Qualifications

Candidates must have a PhD and/or MD degree and must be a US citizen or be able to secure permanent resident status. Candidates with non-traditional backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants should include a curriculum vitae and a brief (2 pages maximum) statement of their research interests.