Postdoc GO-CAM modelling of synapse functions in SynGO

The project you will be working on is called GO-CAM modelling of synapse functions in SynGO.

Synapses are the computational units of the brain and synaptic dysregulation is central in many brain disorders (‘synaptopathies’), including autism, mental retardation and numerous rare brain disorders. SynGO is a world-wide consortium of leading expert laboratories that have annotated synaptic functions using a new Gene Ontology framework that is now the standard in the field. The consortium has generated a knowledgebase of synaptic genes, built together with the Broad Institute in Boston and the Simons Foundation in New York.

The current project aims to exploit the information in two prior projects (SynGO1-2) to build molecular pathway models (‘causal models’) for synaptic signal transduction pathways using established modeling tools, such as GO-CAMs.

You will work closely together with experts around the world that have defined pathways using prior experimental work and spend substantial time in the labs of these experts to generate these models. Models built in this project will form the basis for new hypotheses that will be tested by SynGO personnel with experimental background in wet lab experiments on living neurons and brain tissue. These experiments are expected to integrate with in silico approaches in an iterative cycle. The scientist on this project is expected to seek connections to other pathway modelling projects, e.g., in the worldwide GO-CAM community, and leverage previous pathway modeling work.

This project is supported by the Simons Foundation.

In this role, you will:

• develop and implement gene function and interaction networks into pathway models, likely in GO-CAM;
• translate synapse biology pathways into causal models in collaboration with synapse experts;
• collaborate with interdisciplinary teams around the world to integrate a variety of experimental data;
• add models to the SynGO knowledgebase and guide researchers in the field to use the models;
• publish causal models in the best peer-reviewed journals and provide progress reports to funding sources.

You are a scientist with the following qualifications:

• PhD in molecular (neuro-)biology, affinity with data modeling;
• at least 5 years post graduate experience (preferred);
• proficiency in programming languages (e.g., Python, R) and experience with databases (e.g., SQL);
• prior experience of Gene Ontology annotation, GO-CAMs and connections to GO-CAM communities is an advantage;
• strong motivation to pursue a career in science;
• excellent command of English.