Postdoctoral Position in Skeletal Regeneration, Diabetes, and Spatial Biology

About the role

A postdoctoral position is available in the laboratory of Dr. Dana Graves at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Dental Medicine, Department of Periodontics, to investigate a newly identified mechanism by which diabetes impairs fracture healing and to develop a locally delivered IGF-1‑mimetic nanofiber hydrogel therapy to restore skeletal repair.

Responsibilities

• Define how diabetes‑induced FOXO1 activity alters ciliogenesis, cellular differentiation, and regenerative signaling in chondrocytes and osteoblasts.
• Integrate conditional mouse models targeting FOXO1, IFT80, and combined FOXO1/IFT80 deletion with fracture‑healing models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
• Resolve the fracture‑healing microenvironment at spatial and single‑cell resolution.
• Examine the effects of the IGF‑1‑mimetic‑containing nanofiber hydrogel on inflammation and the sequential formation of immature mesenchymal tissue, cartilage, and bone.
• Determine whether the hydrogel restores cilia‑dependent regenerative signaling, limits pathological FOXO1 activity, and improves structural and functional fracture healing in diabetic models.
• Perform 10x Genomics Xenium spatial transcriptomics, single‑cell RNA sequencing, histology, immunofluorescence, semi‑automated image analysis, and microcomputed tomography.
• Conduct computational analysis using R and Seurat.
• Lead spatial‑transcriptomic and computational analyses, present findings, prepare first‑author manuscripts, and contribute to grant development.

Skills

• Mouse genetics and disease models (conditional knockouts)
• Bone/cartilage biology and fracture‑healing models
• Spatial transcriptomics (10x Genomics Xenium)
• Single‑cell RNA sequencing
• Computational analysis with R and Seurat
• Histology and immunofluorescence
• Semi‑automated image analysis
• Microcomputed tomography
• Nanofiber hydrogel preparation and local delivery assays
• Scientific writing, presentation, and grant writing

Qualifications

• PhD, MD, DMD, DVM, or equivalent degree in skeletal biology, cell biology, molecular biology, bioengineering, diabetes biology, immunology, computational biology, or a related field.
• Desirable experience in one or more of: mouse genetics and disease models, bone or cartilage biology, fracture healing, spatial transcriptomics, single‑cell RNA sequencing, computational analysis using R and Seurat, image analysis, molecular and cellular assays, histology, microcomputed tomography.
• Strong experimental background with interest in osseous and regenerative biology, spatially resolved molecular analysis, and single‑cell transcriptomics.
• Evidence of scientific rigor, clear scientific writing and communication, and ability to work independently and collaboratively.

Benefits

• Direct scientific mentoring from Dr. Dana Graves.
• Multidisciplinary training at the interface of skeletal biology, diabetes, mouse genetics, spatial and single‑cell genomics, computational biology, and translational biomaterials.
• Access to Penn core facilities for spatial transcriptomics, single‑cell genomics, imaging, histology, and quantitative