Postdoc - Myelin Imaging

Postdoc - Myelin Imaging

NIN - Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience

Amsterdam, Netherlands

€ 3.706 - € 5.760 per month gross

What you will be doing

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher with strong technical expertise to study the oligodendrocyte myelin sheaths in brain tissue in health and disease. Many brain disorders, including rare genetic white matter disorders (leukodystrophies), but also more common diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, are characterized by white matter pathology including myelin swelling (vacuolization), damage, loss or remodeling. Recently, we found that myelin swelling is not always the start of myelin loss, but that it can be followed by repair (Arafa et al. Science 391, eadr4661, 2026). Neuronal activity contributes to myelin swelling, but the mechanisms and dynamics underlying myelin swelling and repair are poorly understood.

Leveraging advanced microscopy approaches you will investigate myelin in living tissue (Higgins, Al-Naqib et al. 10.64898/2026.05.15.725074) to determine the biophysical and molecular mechanisms associated with myelin remodeling. This project is a collaboration with Dr. Rogier Min of the Amsterdam Leukodystrophy Center (ALC), Amsterdam UMC. Well-validated mouse models for various leukodystrophies offer opportunities to study myelin swelling and remodeling in disease contexts, taking an important step towards a better understanding of this understudied, but common phenomenon and building bridges to the clinic.

What you will be contributing

• A PhD obtained within the past four years in neuroscience or a related research field;
• Demonstrated experience with single-cell electrophysiology and/or live functional imaging from neurons and/or glia (e.g. 2P/SCoRe);
• Experience (> 2 yrs) with brain-tissue preparation methods preferably involving mouse models;
• Demonstrated capacity to publish research findings in peer-reviewed journals;
• Highly proficient in spoken and written English;
• Experience supervising master/PhD students in research projects;
• Excellent teamwork and communication skills;
• Certification under Article 9 of the Dutch Experiments on Animals Act, or a comparable EU certification for experimental animal use, is an advantage;
• Proficiency with programming languages (Python, MATLAB, R) is a plus.