Postdoctoral Fellow - UTSA Macpherson Lab

The Macpherson lab at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) seeks a postdoctoral research fellow to fill an NIH-funded position. The Macpherson lab is a member of the newly formed NIH RE-JOIN Consortium:

The Restoring Joint Health and Function to Reduce Pain (RE-JOIN) Consortium consists of research teams working together to map the network of sensory nerves that connect to two joints: the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and the knee. This research aims to understand how these types and patterns of sensory neuron networks in joints change with disease and aging.  

We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher who is interested in in vivo calcium imaging of trigeminal ganglion neurons innervating the TMJ to investigate how the activity of these neurons change with disease and aging. This is an exciting opportunity to learn cutting edge techniques, and also to become part of a highly collaborative, wide-ranging research initiative with teams located across the country.

Research in the Macpherson lab is centered on investigating the connectivity and plasticity of peripheral sensory circuits, especially for taste and oral/facial somatosensation. The lab primarily uses mouse models to genetically manipulate, label, trace, and monitor the activity of taste receptor cells and peripheral sensory neurons in vivo. Specific techniques include in vivo calcium imaging, intravital 2-photon microscopy, GFP Reconstitution Across Synaptic Partners (GRASP), CRISPR knock-in/knock-out, immuno/in-situ fluorescence, RNA-seq, and behavioral analysis. Research questions include: 1) Coding: How is chemosensory/somatosensory information encoded by peripheral sensory neurons? 2) Connectivity: What are the synaptic partners of specific taste receptor cell types? 3) Dynamics: How do gustatory fibers and taste synapses change during taste cell turnover? 4) Plasticity: How do drugs, age, disease, or diet affect peripheral sensory neuron connectivity and function?

The research environment at UTSA and within the Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology is excellent and San Antonio is a fast-growing, family friendly, livable city. Please see the following for more information:

https://www.macphersonlab.org/

https://www.utsa.edu/sciences/neuroscience-developmental-regenerative-biology/