Research Position in Translational Neuro-Oncology Lab
The Rajappa Lab is accepting applications for a Research Position with a BS, PhD, or MD from backgrounds in Neuroscience, Tumor Immunology or Cancer Biology. Backgrounds in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology will also be considered. Experience with animal tumor modeling, cell sorting and flow cytometry is desired. Additional experience with Genomics/Bioinformatics/Statistics is a plus. Excellent mentoring support/career guidance will be given to those interested in pursuing medical and/or graduate school studies.
Our team is part of the Institute for Genomic Medicine (IGM) at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which is at the forefront of using genomic sequencing in the clinical setting to predict best health outcomes for patients and is one of the driving forces shaping precision medicine. Led by a team of internationally-renowned genomic medicine scientists (Richard Wilson, PhD and Elaine Mardis, PhD) IGM is housed in the campus’ newest research building, spanning ~25,000 square feet of laboratory and office space in a highly interactive setting.
Rajappa Lab Research Interests:
Molecular mechanisms of brain tumor (glioma) progression, Tumor immunology and microenvironment, Transgenic brain tumor modeling, Myeloid cell heterogeneity and recruitment, Immune infiltration, JAK/stat signaling, Tumor-microenvironment cross talk, Next generation sequencing (NGS), Single-cell sequencing
What Will You Be Doing?
Our passion and vision is to rapidly translate research discoveries into lasting treatment options for pediatric patients afflicted with Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors. Specifically, our laboratory is studying the mechanisms that potentiate low to high grade glioma progression. We use transgenic brain tumor mouse models that recapitulate low to high grade glioma progression and correlate our findings with peripheral blood and tumor specimens from patients with CNS tumors. These models also serve as a platform to explore the contribution of the tumor microenvironment and myeloid cells in low grade glioma progression and also test novel therapeutic agents aimed at impairing malignant transformation. Furthermore, modulating myeloid-derived cell population recruitment using JAK 1/2 Inhibitors prior to malignant tumor progression has shown translational promise.
While advances have demonstrated the importance of the microenvironment in various solid tumors, a critical knowledge gap exists with regards to understanding how myeloid cell heterogeneity and cross-talk with other immune cells plays a role in enhancing low grade glioma progression. To address this critical knowledge gap, our team is using a multi-disciplinary approach that leverages single cell sequencing and NGS along with cancer and molecular biology techniques to investigate the dynamic nature of the evolving immune microenvironment within gliomas.
Our long-term goals are to use these innovative tools in order to translate our findings into new age clinical trials for patients with gliomas and validate select myeloid cell populations as in-vivo biomarkers that may enhance risk stratification and targeted approaches for this patient population.
Ultimately, the passion and vision of the Rajappa Lab is to rapidly translate research discoveries into lasting treatment options for pediatric patients afflicted with CNS tumors.