Bioinformatician/Computational biologist Postdoc Position at the European Institute of Oncology and University of Milan, IFOM-IEO-Campus, Milan - Italy
COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES TO NEURODEVELOPMENTAL EPIGENOMICS
The Laboratory of Stem Cell Epigenetics, headed by ERC Investigator Giuseppe Testa, invites applications for a postdoctoral position in computational biology on a highly innovative project that investigates the epigenetic basis of environmentally-induced neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
A major focus of our lab is on the modelling of neurodevelopmental diseases by cell reprogramming. We recently described the thus far largest cohort of disease-specific, transgene-free iPSC, focusing on two disorders caused by symmetrical copy number variations of 7q11.23 that display a striking combination of shared and symmetrically opposite phenotypes (Adamo et al. Nature Genetics, 2015; News and Views by Urban and Purmann in the same issue). We discovered that iPSC and early developmental lineages already harbor major transcriptional dysregulation in disease-relevant pathways, and established ad hoc computational pipelines to define epigenetically vulnerable neurodevelopmental pathways.
This project is part of a major EU-funded Horizon2020 network (EDCMixRisk) that combines three key innovations: i) uniquely large epidemiological studies to link prenatal exposures to environmental toxins with neurodevelopmental disabilities; ii) chemical synthesis of defined mixtures of environmental toxins for a first-time characterization of their compound impact on neural development; iii) cell reprogramming and cortical organoids for the experimental study of toxin mixtures at defining stages of human corticogenesis in vitro. The candidate will be part of an already highly active core of bioinformaticians in the lab and is expected to apply a broad range of methods (including reverse engineering and machine learning) to pioneer new approaches for the integrated analysis of these unique human datasets.
Place of employment and work
The European Institute of Oncology is one of Europe's leading research institutes in biomedical research. It offers attractive salaries and benefits, an exceptional English-speaking research environment and cutting-edge technological platforms. It is located in the heart of Milan, a vibrant cosmopolitan city that is hosting the 2015 World Exhibition http://www.expo2015.org/en/index.html
Requirements:

Graduate degree in Bioinformatics/Computational biology/Informatics or PhD in Molecular Biology or Neurobiology with a proven track record in bioinformatics/computational biology. We are looking for a highly motivated scientist to join an interactive, multi-national team at the cutting edge of cell reprogramming and neurobiology (Adamo et al. Nature Genetics 2015; News and Views by Urban and Purmann in the same issue; Fragola et al. PLoS Genetics 2013; Burgold et al. Cell Reports 2012; Testa Bioessays, 2011; Campaner et al., Molecular Cell 2011). Operating language of the lab is English.
Inquiries: giuseppe.testa@ieo.eu or giuseppe.testa@unimi.it
Giuseppe Testa, MD, PhD, MA
Professor of Molecular Biology, University of Milan
Head, Laboratory of Stem Cell Epigenetics
European Institute of Oncology, Via Adamello 16, 20139 Milan, Italy Tel. +39-02-94375105
