Available Positions

Current Openings

We are currently recruiting graduate students. Contact Dr. Seth Robia if you are interested, and check out the list of former Robia Lab alumni who have gone on to fame and fortune.

We have a postdoctoral position available! Join our team to use your expertise and learn exciting new science.  

Applicants

We seek talented applicants from a range of fields including neuroscience biochemistry, physiology, biophysics, bioengineering, and structural biology.  Our lab investigates structural dynamics and regulatory interactions of transport ATPases in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and cardiovascular disease.

Projects

Our lab is working on a diverse array of biological questions, so the specific postdoctoral project will depend on the candidate’s interests and expertise. Selected projects are listed below as examples:

• 1. Micropeptide regulation of SERCA and the Na/K-ATPase- How do different regulatory partners compete or cooperate in modulating calcium and sodium transport in the CNS, heart, and skeletal muscle?

  2. Transport ATPase structural dynamics- What are the functionally important conformational changes during transporter cycling? What are the important structural determinants of function?

  3. Novel mechanisms of kinase regulation- How do regulatory interactions target kinase to specific locations and modulate processes of cell survival, growth, and migration? How are these mechanisms disrupted in disease?

  4. Oxidative modification of cardiac proteins- How are cardiac ion transporters and their regulatory partners chemically modified as a result of diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease or Parkinson's Disease?

Also see other areas of research listed here: Research Interests

Methods

We use a variety of experimental approaches. Prospective students postdocs could utilize their expertise in (or become trained in) any of the following:

• 1. Fluorescence spectroscopy:  including time resolved single photon counting, fluorescence resonance energy transfer, fluorescence anisotropy, single pair FRET, pulsed interleaved excitation fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

  2. Microscopy: including super-resolution microscopy, total internal reflection fluorescence, single molecule fluorescence, live cell imaging, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, multiphoton vital microscopy.

  3. Molecular dynamics simulations: steered MD, molecular docking, binding free energy calculations, flexible fitting, homology modeling, computer aided protein modifications.

  4. Membrane protein biochemistry: engineering of transport ATPases or regulators; expression of proteins in cultured cells or animal models; purification and characterization of proteins from patient samples.

  5. Mass spectrometry: quantifying how expression of key regulatory proteins changes in neurodegenerative disease or heart failure.

You don't have to have previous experience in these methods, we'll teach you!

Environment

The Robia lab is located in a new building on the Loyola University Chicago Medical Center campus, the Center for Translational Research and Education, which opened in 2016. Our lab is on the top (5th) floor of this building, with views of a forest preserve and the Chicago skyline. The top two floors of the CTRE contain the labs of faculty in the Cardiovascular Research Institute. This puts the Robia lab in close proximity with collaborators who share similar research interests. We are lucky to work in a very collegial and collaborative atmosphere as part of the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology in the Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago. Our campus is located in Maywood, 12 miles west of downtown Chicago, Illinois. This location in the near-west suburbs makes it an easy commute whether you want to live in the city or the suburbs.

Application

To apply for a position within the Robia Lab, please send a single pdf file containing a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and the names of references to: Seth L. Robia, Ph.D., srobia@luc.edu