Movement is central to behavior and movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease or dystonia, are major clinical problems. Dystonia is the third most common neurological movement disorder and is characterized by abnormal postures, involuntary or stereotyped movements. Primary dystonia lacks neurodegeneration and these symptoms arise because of abnormal neuronal development, connectivity or physiology. Dystonia has higher frequency in individuals who undergo long-term fine motor skill training, such as musicians, and this relationship associates dystonia with plasticity or over training of neuronal circuits. There are also monogenic forms of dystonia and potentially genetic components for all forms of dystonia. However, genetic and clinical advances in dystonia research have not yet translated into understanding the molecular or cellular basis of dystonia and this is the aim of this post-doctoral project.
Several dystonia-causing genes are evolutionarily conserved and highly expressed in the Drosophila nervous system. They are relatively unstudied and their neurobiological functions and importance are largely unknown. This post-doctoral project will explore how Drosophila homologs of human dystonia genes contribute to nervous system and synaptic development.
The project is based in the Laboratory for Dystonia Research in the VIB Center for the Biology of Disease in Leuven, Belgium. The successful candidate is expected to collaborate, present findings and intellectually interact with the community of Drosophila researchers in the VIB center (Hassan, Verstreken, Callaerts and Halder labs) and, as well as the dystonia-focused group.
The successful candidate must have past experience using Drosophila and preferably in Drosophila molecular neurobiology or developmental biology. Funding is available, although candidates will develop fellowship applications. The preferred start date is June 1st to October 1st 2013, although later start dates will be considered.
Please contact Dr. Rose Goodchild rose.goodchild@cme.vib-kuleuven.be for more information, or to apply for this position with a CV and short description of career goals and scientific interests.
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