Sleep function during brain development
Richard Harland, Professor
Molecular and Cell Biology
Applications for Spring 2025 are closed for this project.
Sleep has been shown to be crucial to animal life. Moreover, sleep deprivation during the development of the fetus leads to emotional and cognitive effects in the offspring later in life. Unfortunately, the mechanism behind these behaviors are not defined due to the technical and ethical impediments related to human and amniote models. On the other hand, Xenopus has proven to be a powerful tool to test human conditions, including psychiatric conditions. Hence, we expect to explore the current (and new) knowledge on the field effect of sleep, in the context of brain development, using Xenopus as the model.
Role: Antibody staining and imaging of Xenopus embryos. Keep proper notes on the lab notebook. Present results and attend lab meetings.
Qualifications: No experience is necessary, though high standards on work ethic is essential and expected.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Michael Abrams, Post-Doc
Hours: 9-11 hrs
Related website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982217310230
Related website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982217310230