A post-doctoral position is immediately available to investigate how tumor microenvironment and neurodevelopment influence diffuse midline glioma (DMG) biology and therapeutic response. This project places a strong emphasis on orthotopic mouse modeling of brain tumors, including brainstem implantation, integrated with mechanistic cell-based studies and rigorous in vivo therapeutic testing.
Under the supervision of Dr. Koschmann (Department of Pediatrics), the fellow will lead the development and application of advanced genetically engineered and orthotopic murine models, including intra-uterine electroporation (IUE)?based systems and brainstem tumor implantation approaches that faithfully recapitulate human DMG. A major focus of the position will be the design, execution, and analysis of in vivo treatment studies, including evaluation of novel targeted and epigenetic therapies using survival, imaging, molecular, and cellular endpoints.
In parallel, the fellow will perform complementary functional studies to investigate tumor cell state, lineage programs, and therapeutic response. This work will incorporate a broad range of cell-level assays, including immunocytochemistry (ICC), stimulation and perturbation experiments, viability and proliferation assays, imaging-based analyses, and other plate-based functional approaches to characterize tumor biology and tumor?microenvironment interactions. This role offers the opportunity to drive highly translational research bridging developmental biology, tumor modeling, and functional therapeutic testing.