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.

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 to establish the cellular and molecular events that impair skeletal regeneration.
• Examine the effects of a newly developed IGF-1 mimetic-containing nanofiber hydrogel on inflammation and the sequential formation of immature mesenchymal tissue, cartilage, and bone, and determine whether the hydrogel restores cilia-dependent regenerative signaling, limits pathological FOXO1 activity, and improves structural and functional fracture healing in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Requirements

• Hold a PhD, MD, DMD, DVM, or equivalent degree in skeletal biology, cell biology, molecular biology, bioengineering, diabetes biology, immunology, computational biology, or a related field.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas is desirable: 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, or microcomputed tomography.

Qualifications

• Strong experimental background.
• Evidence of scientific rigor, clear communication, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.

Skills

• R and Seurat for analysis of Xenium and single-cell datasets.
• Knowledge of spatial transcriptomics, single-cell genomics, imaging, histology, and quantitative analysis.

Benefits

The position provides multidisciplinary training at the interface of skeletal biology, diabetes, mouse genetics, spatial and single-cell genomics, computational biology, and translational biomaterials research.

Pay

The position is funded through 2028 and the PI has other grant support through 2031.

Schedule

The position is available immediately following interviews and feedback from references.