Job Description

The Svendsen Lab at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Regenerative Medicine Institute is looking for a Postdoctoral Scientist to join the team!

When the work you do every single day has a crucial impact on the lives of others, every effort, every detail, and every second matters. This shared culture of happiness, passion, and dedication pulses through Cedars-Sinai, and it’s just one of the many reasons why we rank as one of the top hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

Are you ready to be a part of breakthrough research?

The Svendsen Laboratory uses human stem cell models and cell-based technologies to understand and develop new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. The laboratory has extensive experience using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to model neurological disease and investigate patient-specific mechanisms of neurodegeneration.

This Postdoctoral Scientist position will focus primarily on Parkinson’s disease (PD), with an emphasis on patient-derived iPSC models of young-onset Parkinson’s disease (YOPD) and precision-medicine approaches to understanding disease heterogeneity The successful candidate will work with well-characterized patient-derived iPSC lines and differentiate them into midbrain dopaminergic neuronal cultures for functional, molecular, and biochemical studies. Projects will investigate how patient-specific genetic and molecular backgrounds influence neuronal phenotypes, disease vulnerability, and responses to candidate therapeutic interventions.

The work is part of collaborative programs integrating iPSC-derived neuronal phenotypes with genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and clinical data from deeply characterized PD cohorts. The position therefore provides an opportunity to work at the interface of stem cell biology, neuroscience, human genetics, and translational precision medicine.

The Postdoctoral Scientist works independently but in close cooperation and consultation with the Principal Investigator and other Research Scientists. The incumbent will design and perform both routine and complex laboratory procedures, develop and adapt new experimental methods, analyze and interpret data, and contribute to manuscripts, presentations, and collaborative research projects.

Please note that this position is onsite.

Primary Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• May assist in the preparation of grant proposals, but is not responsible for generating grant funds.
• May participate in publications and presentations as author or co-author.
• Designs and performs experiments. Will keep appropriate experimental records and documentation and analyze the results with the Principal Investigator.
• May develop, adapt, and implement new research techniques and protocols.
• Analyzes interpret, summarizes, and compiles data.
• Performs routine and complex laboratory procedures throughout the training period.
• Operates and maintains equipment and instruments.
• May observe MD-patient or MD-human research subject interactions as it pertains directly to research being performed.ch subject interactions as they pertain directly to research being performed.

Department-Specific Responsibilities:

• Design and perform experiments using human iPSC-derived neuronal models, with a primary focus on midbrain dopaminergic neurons and Parkinson’s disease.
• Maintain, differentiate, and characterize patient-derived iPSC lines and neural cultures.
• Perform quantitative phenotyping of neuronal cultures using biochemical, molecular, imaging, and functional assays.
• Investigate disease-relevant phenotypes including alterations in α-synuclein biology, lysosomal and autophagic function, mitochondrial function, cellular metabolism, oxidative stress, neuronal activity, and dopamine production and release.
• Evaluate neuronal responses to disease-relevant stressors and candidate therapeutic interventions to identify patient- or pathway-specific differences in vulnerability and rescue.
• Perform or coordinate functional characterization using approaches such as multi-electrode array analysis, neurotransmitter measurements, high-content imaging, and related assays.
• Integrate experimental findings with genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and clinical datasets generated through collaborative studies.
• Develop, optimize, and validate new experimental techniques and protocols as required by the research program.
• Maintain detailed experimental records and appropriate documentation and ensure rigorous, reproducible data collection.
• Analyze, interpret, summarize, and present experimental results in collaboration with the Principal Investigator and research team.
• Participate in preparation of scientific manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, and grant applications.
• Collaborate closely with scientists, clinicians, computational investigators, research associates, technicians, and students across multidisciplinary research programs.

Qualifications

Education:

• Doctorate (PhD, MD, VMD, DDS, or equivalent) in neuroscience, stem cell biology, molecular or cellular biology, biomedical sciences, bioengineering, or a closely related field.

Experience and Skills:

• Acquires thorough technical and theoretical knowledge of research project and objectives during one to five (1-5) year post-doctoral appointment.
• Works independently on research projects designed by a mentor (typically the PI) within area of specialization.
• Demonstrated aptitude to perform experimental protocols and procedures, including detailed data collection, analysis, operation, and maintenance of specialized equipment.
• Scheduling flexibility including evening, weekend, and holiday rotation commitments may be necessary. Travel may be required.
• Function efficiently and cooperatively with a team of faculty, research associates, technicians, and students.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills are essential.
• Knowledge of safety standards and maintenance of specialized equipment.

Desirable Experience and Skills:

• Experience culturing human pluripotent stem cells and/or differentiating iPSCs into neural cell types.
• Experience with human iPSC-derived neurons, particularly midbrain dopaminergic neurons, is strongly preferred.
• Strong background in neuroscience, neurodegeneration, stem cell biology, or Parkinson’s disease research.
• Experience with quantitative cellular and molecular assays relevant to neuronal function or neurodegeneration.
• Experience with one or more of the following approaches is highly desirable:
• Western blotting, ELISA, immunocytochemistry, and related protein assays.
• Lysosomal, autophagic, mitochondrial, oxidative stress, or metabolic assays.
• Multi-electrode array or other electrophysiological analysis.
• Dopamine or other neurotransmitter quantification, including HPLC-based methods.
• High-content or quantitative fluorescence imaging.
• RNA sequencing, single-cell or single-nucleus sequencing, proteomics, metabolomics, or other high-dimensional datasets.
• Experience working with patient-derived cell lines, disease cohorts, or genetically diverse iPSC panels is particularly valuable.
• Familiarity with experimental approaches for investigating genotype-phenotype relationships, disease heterogeneity, or precision medicine is desirable.
• Computational expertise is not required, but the ability to interpret and integrate complex molecular datasets with cellular phenotypes is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to design rigorous experiments, troubleshoot protocols, collect quantitative data, and independently analyze and interpret results.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to experimental reproducibility and documentation.