Cellular Electrophysiology / Drug Development Position Available- Washington University, School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO

The Rutherford laboratory is recruiting a person eager to focus on in vivo, ex vivo, and/or in vitro
cellular electrophysiology in an interdisciplinary and collaborative research team. We focus on synaptic
transmission and spike generation, at the auditory synapses in the cochlea. The successful candidate
will have experience in electrophysiology. The project includes in vivo sharp electrode recordings of
the auditory nerve, voltage-clamp recordings in tissue explants and/or in cells with heterologous
expression of AMPA-type glutamate receptors. Some studies will validate novel antagonists for
prevention of noise-induced hearing loss and other disorders of glutamate excitotoxicity including
ischemic stroke.

The focus of the Rutherford laboratory is to understand the roles of ion channels in hearing and
deafness. The applicant may be at any level, who is focused on cellular electrophysiology. We are
studying the mechanisms of glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in the cochlea, with experiments on
sensory hair-cell excitability and postsynaptic glutamate-induced damage to the fibers of the auditory
nerve.

The Rutherford lab is part of the Hope Center, the Children’s Discovery Institute, the Center for
Investigation of Membrane Excitability Disorders, and the Neuroscience Program of the Division of
Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University. In this project we focus on the
relationships between synapse function, synapse molecular anatomy, and vulnerability to excitotoxic
trauma, benefiting from collaboration with the Washington University Center for Drug Discovery, the
Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics,
the Department of Anesthesiology, and the Department of Neurology.

Preferred or required applicant qualifications:

• Experience in patch-clamp electrophysiology and/or in vivo electrophysiology
• Computational skills – analysis of electrophysiological data
• Ability to work independently and willingness to work as part of a team
• Experience in tissue dissection and/or cell culture technique

Please send CV to Dr. Rutherford by email:
Mark Rutherford, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Otolaryngology
Washington University, School of Medicine in St. Louis MO
Email –rutherfordmark@wustl.edu
For information about the lab please visit – https://oto.wustl.edu/items/rutherford-lab