Nance Lab
Disease-Directed Engineering
Current Available Positions
UPDATED: August 28, 2024
Graduate: MS and PhD applications for Fall 2024 are closed. Students who are accepted at UW in ChemE, BioE, or MolES PhD programs will have the opportunity to meet with Prof. Nance and Nance lab members, and discuss specific project details in September-November 2024. Rotations for BioE or MolE students are not available until Winter or Spring 2025 and are discussed on a case by case basis.
Applying for a Fall 2025 start date? We will be recruiting 1-2 PhD students for the 2025-2026 academic year!
If you are an MSTP (MD/PhD) student and interested in the lab, please email Dr. Nance (eanance@uw.edu) directly.
Postdoctoral: We currently have postdoc positions available through the Invent @ Seattle Children's program. Please review the eligibility criteria and the requirements for the application process: https://www.seattlechildrens.org/research/research-institute/careers/invent-at-seattle-childrens/ Submit your application through Invent@Seattle Children's application process to be considered.
Undergraduates: We have two positions available. The projects are described below. If you are interested in applying, please read the undergraduate expectations listed below and complete the following application form by Friday September 6, 5pm: https://forms.gle/TXoEXVCFAinbtoAp7
Project 1: RNA expression analysis to study mechanisms of brain extracellular matrix remodeling in developmental brain injury models
Project Description: Structure-function relationships are fundamental to our understanding of biology and underscore outcomes from the molecular to macroscopic scale. In the brain, the interplay between microstructure and neurofunctional health is a novel target for holistic understanding of disease progression – in neurodevelopment, it’s important to our understanding of how early-life brain injury contributes to later-in-life susceptibilities. Microstructural changes are found in a wide range of neurological conditions, but investigating the mechanisms behind these changes lacks modular model systems that can capture the diversity of disease/injury etiologies between sex and across developmental age, along with access to native microstructure of the living brain. Organotypic whole-hemisphere (OWH) brain slices offer a compromise as systems that retain native cell populations and extracellular matrix (ECM) structure and composition, while providing access to multiple brain regions in a single living system. Using the OWH brain slice platform, we have developed models of hypoxia-ischemia (by oxygen-glucose deprivation), mitochondrial failure, neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, and mechanical trauma. We have characterized relative microstructural differences in these injury models using nanoparticle probes, but mechanisms remain unclear. Your project will screen gene expression of proteins responsible for microstructural changes in response to combinatorial oxygen-glucose deprivation and mitochondrial failure and contribute to our understanding of microstructural dynamics in developmental brain injury. You will learn how to collect and maintain OWH brain slice cultures, inflict injury, and track changes over time for gene expression associated with the protein-based microstructure of the brain extracellular environment. You will also develop skills in experimental design/planning, data management (keeping a robust lab notebook) and data analysis, and science communication (written and oral). As you collect, analyze, and communicate data, you will work towards developing adjacent research questions to explore independently and learn how to engage with scientific literature.
Project Techniques: preparation and maintenance of mammalian tissues cultures (OWH slices), aseptic technique, implementing injury models, isolation of RNA and protein from tissues, primer design, reverse-transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR)
Skills Development: experimental design and planning, data management and analysis, science communication, scientific writing
Project 2: Cellular environment analysis through immunofluorescence imaging to investigate drug responses in neonatal brain injury model
Project Description: Organotypic whole-hemisphere (OWH) brain slice model developed in our lab maintains cellular architecture and function. It provides a platform to study injury mechanisms under neonatal hypoxic-ischemia (HI) conditions while retaining the complex nature of preterm encephalopathy etiology. Current neuroprotective interventions for the extremely-preterm (EP) infant population including prenatal steroids, magnesium sulfate, delayed cord clamping and postnatal caffeine only improve neurodevelopmental outcomes for EP survivors. There is a critical need in the neonatal neuroprotection field to screen promising therapeutic agents in vitro for ultimate translation to clinical trials. Our prior work developed in the ferret OWH brain slice model of oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) can be utilized for systemic screening of therapeutics ex vivo to translate to HI injuries in vivo. Immunofluorescence imaging through confocal microscopy allows for analysis of regional differences in injury and therapeutic responses specific to different cell types in the brain. You will use this powerful quantitative and qualitative tool for simultaneous analysis in a variety of brain regions to investigate cellular viability and morphological changes in response to promising therapeutics. You will learn to collect and maintain OWH brain slice cultures, inflict injury and treatment application, and analyze changes in the brain cellular environment. You will also develop skills in experimental design, data management and analysis, and science communication and writing. As you progress in the work and engage further with scientific literature, you will be able to develop independent research trajectories while delving deeper into the main scientific questions.
Project Techniques: preparation and maintenance of mammalian tissues cultures in different animal species (OWH brain slices), aseptic technique, implementing injury models, immunofluorescence staining, confocal microscopy, imaging data analysis
Skills Development: experimental design and planning, data analysis, science communication, scientific writing, time and project management
High School students: We are not running TEXTILE in the summer of 2024 and do not have any available positions for high school student volunteers or interns for 2024-2025.
Joining Our Team
We look for hard-working, independent, and creative individuals who are passionate about finding ways to better our understanding of, and our technology for, treating complex diseases, specifically those in the brain.
We work as a close-knit team to address the challenging needs of treating neurological diseases. Our work includes individuals from diverse backgrounds and expertise, including in chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science, biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, pediatrics, neurology, infectious disease, physiology and radiology. We collaborate extensively with the clinicians in these medical fields. Individuals who join our lab must be dedicated to continual learning, and to skill development in technical expertise and strong communication.
Postdoctoral Fellows and Technicians
For postdoctoral applicants, we are looking for dedicated individuals who have an interest in developing therapeutics for children, with backgrounds in non-cancer in vivo studies, and individuals who have a background in nanotechnology or biomaterials synthesis/formulation and applications.
It is of significant interest to hire postdocs who have their own funding. For potential funding applications, please check out our scholarship and funding opportunities page.
Doctoral and Master's Candidates
If you are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. or thesis M.S. at the University of Washington, please review our website to become familiar with our mission, prior publications, and current research. We accept graduate students from those individuals who have been accepted to chemical engineering, MolES, bioengineering, or one of the health sciences programs at UW.
If you apply, please make sure you describe in your application how your past academic, industry and/or research experiences fit with our lab’s mission and your future career goals. Please e-mail Prof. Nance to let her know you have applied, which department you applied to, and highlight your primary research interests.
Undergraduate Researchers
You do not need prior research experience or experience in our labs research areas of interest to join the Nance lab. Participating in research can give you an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills you are learning in the classroom to important clinical challenges. Research is challenging by definition; most of what you will be doing has never been done before. As such, we are looking for students who are self-starters, independent, and willing to explore uncharted territory, and who are willing to embrace failing (in a safe space!). Research opportunities are available on a volunteer or credit basis. Prof. Nance provides extensive support to students to secure research fellowships and scholarships. Please see our Personnel and Lab Alumni pages to get a sense of what scholarships and fellowships our undergraduate research members have received in past years.
Our general expectations for undergraduate researchers include:
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Dedicating a minimum of three quarters (1 academic year) to work in the lab. During the academic year, classes are your top priority. These are challenging projects and three quarters will give you the time to dive in and make significant contributions to research. We prefer at least one summer of commitment if that is an option for you.
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No participation in undergraduate research in another lab.
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During the academic quarters, spending 8-10 hours per week (on average) working on research is critical. With bio-focused experimental research, experiments take time, although they can be nicely organized into discreet time blocks. We know that classes, work, and other extracurricular activities keep your schedule busy. Ask yourself if you have time to responsibly dedicate to pursuing research.
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Participating in weekly lab meetings (when your class schedule allows) and monthly working group meetings with your subgroup. You should come prepared to the working group meetings with slides or other handouts to share your progress, discuss challenges, and help yourself and your peers with their research.
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Participate in a yearly individualized development meeting with Prof. Nance and your graduate student mentor.
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Keeping clear documentation and an electronic or hard copy lab notebook, depending on your research area. Others will likely be building upon and learning from your work in the future. Thus it is important that everyone keeps clear notes (including comments in any computer code) so that you can easily share what you have done.
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Defining clear goals and outcomes. We aim for everyone to produce a final report, abstract, or other publication based upon their project. We will work with you to help define these goals for your specific project and career goals!