Postdoc Fellow: Neurodegenerative Diseases

Postdoc opportunity at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine researching molecular pathways in Huntingtons disease using advanced genetic and systems biology tools.

The X. William Yang Laboratory at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to study the in vivo molecular pathogenic mechanisms in Huntington’s disease (HD).

The Yang lab has an outstanding track record in developing and applying cutting-edge genetic, genomic, and systems biology approaches to study neurodegenerative disorders including HD and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as well as in developing BRAIN Initiative technologies to map brainwide single-neuron morphology and perform in vivo single-cell genetic perturbations.

Examples of key studies from the Yang Lab include the following areas:

• Developing novel and widely used human genomic transgenic mouse models of HD (e.g. Gu, Neuron, 2022, PMID: 35114102; Gray, J. Neurosci., 2008, PMID: 18550760);
• Characterizing transcriptomic, epigenomic, and proteomic network dysregulation in HD model systems (Langfelder, Nat Neuroscience, 2016, PMID: 26900923; Shirasaki, Neuron, 2012, PMID: 22794259).
• Conducting large-scale mouse genetic studies to define distinct mismatch repair complex genes as drivers of selective neuronal pathogenesis in HD through regulation of the rates of somatic repeat expansion (Wang et al., Cell, 2025, PMID: 39938516).
• Defining neuronal targets of huntingtin lowering to ameliorate HD pathogenesis in vivo (Wang, Nature Medicine, 2014, PMID: 24784230).
• Demonstrating boosting TREM2 levels as a therapeutic strategy for AD by remodeling microglial responsivity in AD mouse models (Lee, Neuron, 2018, PMID: 29518357).
• Developing MORF method (akin to “genetic Golgi staining”) and novel imaging/informatic pipeline for 3D whole brain neuronal morphological mapping (Veldman, Neuron, 2020, PMID: 32795398; Park, Nature Neuroscience, 2025, PMID: 41174172).

The candidates should have a PhD in neuroscience, molecular biology, and/or molecular genetics. Strong candidates should show passion in studying brain disease, and demonstrated track-record of productivity, work ethics, creativity, and independence. Expertise in one or more of the following areas are required: molecular biology (e.g.  molecular cloning, omics profiling, viral-based in vivo studies), mouse genetics, and neuroscience.

The Yang lab is part of Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics in the Semel Institute and Brain Research Institute at UCLA, which has one of the largest and highly collaborative neuroscience community. The trainee can also benefit from our broad network of collaborators in the neurodegenerative disease research in both academia and industry.

Interested candidates should submit a statement on their research experience and goals, and Curriculum Vitae.