A Six-Month Internship Position with the Egli Laboratory at Columbia University in New York City

Announcement Summary:

A unique opportunity for a PhD student (ideally, an individual in the early stages of his/her doctoral studies)
to actively participate in cutting-edge stem cell research projects in Dieter Egli’s laboratory at Columbia
University. The selected candidate will join Columbia University as a J-1 visa fellow for a six-month period.
During the internship, the fellow will work on selected research projects under the direct supervision
of the principal investigator and a senior researcher (see his contact information below). If the knowledge
that the fellow generates is used in a scientific publication, the fellow will be included in the list of authors.

Principal Investigator:

Dietrich M. Egli, PhD, Maimonides Assistant Professor of Developmental Cell Biology
Department of Pediatrics, Division of Molecular Genetics

Research Overview:

The Egli lab focuses on stem cells, epigenetic reprogramming, disease modeling, genome stability,
and early human development. Two ongoing projects are especially relevant to this announcement.
A. The precise and efficient correction of disease-causing mutations in early human embryos
This research project aims to: (i) deepen our understanding of DNA repair mechanisms in early human
embryos and (ii) evaluate the potential of novel genome-editing tools (e.g., prime editors) for the precise
and efficient correction of pathogenic mutations soon after fertilization. The Egli lab is one of only a few
laboratories in the world that have both the legal and ethical approval required to conduct this research.
Our recent references include Zuccaro et al., Nature. (2018); Zuccaro et al., Cell. (2019); Turocy et. al.,
Cell. (2021).

B. Mitigation of replication stress in human preimplantation embryo
The Egli hab is interested in understanding the genome stability during epigenetic reprogramming
and early human development. Aneuploidy is exceedingly common in human embryos and is the most
common cause of pregnancy loss. In the current project, we plan to identify factors that have the capacity
to mitigate the replication stress that is responsible for DNA damage and the decresead developmental
potential of human embryos. Our recent references include Chia et al., Nat Cell Biol. (2017);
Palmerola et al., Cell. (2022) (manuscript accepted for publication).

The Institution:

Established more than 250 years ago as King’s College, Columbia University is a leading research
institution located in New York City. Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university.
To date, its alumni, faculty, and staff have included 99 Nobel laureates. According to the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Columbia University is ranked 11th globally.

Contact:

Stepan Jerabek, PhD, Research Scientist, Email: sj3207@cumc.columbia.edu

Please, include your CV and a motivation letter (200-250 words).

*** We look forward to receiving applications from highly motivated young researchers! ***