Overview
The Fortenbach Lab seeks a highly motivated postdoctoral scholar to develop and study photoswitch-mediated vision restoration in the mammalian retina. We design and characterize small photoisomerizable ligands (photoswitches) that bind retinal neurons to generate light-evoked responses. A central goal is to dissect mechanisms of action—using electrophysiology and computational analysis—to optimize retinal signaling and ultimately restore vision in outer retinal degeneration.
You’ll join a collegial, collaborative community of vision scientists at the University of Washington South Lake Union campus, with access to advanced electrophysiology, imaging, and computational facilities. We strongly support career development, mentoring, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Responsibilities
- Design and execute experiments investigating photoswitch function, including ex vivo and behavioral approaches.
- Perform and analyze multi-electrode array (MEA) or related neurophysiology recordings; develop analysis pipelines. Opportunity to learn patch-clamp recording.
- Contribute computational modeling and analysis of activity patterns and retinal signaling.
- Lead manuscript preparation, present at lab meetings and conferences, and contribute to grant proposals.
- Collaborate across chemistry, neurology, and computational teams; mentor students and technicians.
Minimum Qualifications
- Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Biochemistry, or a closely related field.
- Demonstrated research productivity (first-author paper(s) or preprints).
- Background in programming (e.g., Python).
- Strong quantitative/analytical skills and clear scientific communication.
Preferred Qualifications
- Background in electrophysiology (patch-clamp, MEA) or computational neuroscience (signal processing, modeling).
- Experience with retinal or visual system physiology; interest in neuropharmacology/chemical biology.
- Competence with reproducible code practices (Git) and data analysis workflows.