Updated, November 2021:
Interested candidates should send a cv, statement of research and career interests, and list of 3 references to Prof. Linda Griffith (griff@mit.edu).
1 – Engineering vascularized, immune-competent liver models for liver metabolic disease and cancer metastasis. An ongoing collaboration with NovoNordisk, involving 4 labs at MIT/Whitehead Institute (Griffith, Jaenisch, Young, and Sharp) focuses on developing new models for understand immune-metabolic interactions in Type 2 diabetes and other liver metabolic diseases. This project extends the metabolic and immune modeling that has been conducted in the Liverchip, a commercialized version of a bioreactor that lacks competent vasculature, to a microfluidic, microvascularized format, leveraging a foundational microvascularization approach pioneered by the Kamm lab, who collaborates with the lab on this and other projects. It also leverages extensive development of synthetic extracellular matrix for supporting liver morphogenesis from primary cells. The successful candidate will have a strong background in mechanobiology, liver biology, immunometabolism or related topic and an interest in developing and characterizing the disease-relevant phenotypes. Application to liver metastasis in collaboration with the Kamm lab is anticipated.
2 – Engineering immune-tissue interactions in Lyme disease. This postdoctoral position spans the Griffith, Bryson, and Lauffenburger labs and focuses on building 3D models of innate immune system – tissue interactions in models of acute and chronic Lyme infection, and evaluating the effects of sexual dimorphism and other factors in responses. This includes microvascularized skin models. This project is supported by philanthropic funding, and builds on a strong foundation of 3D tissue engineering using synthetic biomaterials developed in the Griffith lab, and integrates systems immunology approaches from the Bryson lab with experimental design and data interpretation approaches from the Lauffenburger lab. The ideal candidate will have a background in immunology / cell biology with either experience in or interest in tissue engineering. Extension to additional immune system components is encouraged, but innate responses are the initial emphasis of the project.
3 – Parsing the biophysical and biochemical determinants of microenvironment on endometriosis lesion function. A newly-funded NIH grant focuses on how the biophysical and biochemical microenvironment together dictate the survival, growth, and function of endometriosis lesions. This project involves significant interaction with clinical collaborators to obtain well-characterized lesion material from surgeries, create organoids, then examine the behaviors using synthetic hydrogels that can modulate the biomechanics. The candidate will also collaborate with a microfluidics team to create systematic variation in the biochemical microenvironment to assess effects of eg exposure to peritoneal fluid, vs intramuscular.
4 – (Lauffenburger lab – can contact me for info) Computational analysis of immune-tissue-microbe interactions in Lyme disease. This postdoctoral position is centered in the Lauffenburger lab and focuses on experimental design and analysis of systems serology data from Lyme disease patients, in collaboration with the lab of Galit Alter at the Ragon Institute/MGH. The project also includes design and interpretation of in vitro models of infection, in collaboration with the Bryson and Griffith labs.
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS:
PhD Students: I generally accept 1-3 graduate students per year into my laboratory and welcome your interest in my lab. Applications for admission to PhD programs for fall term 2018 are due in December, through departmental websites. I will know the status of possible projects in Spring, 2018. If you are applying to the Biological Engineering graduate program, you can ask to meet with me during the visit weekend in March, when we interview prospective students. If you are admitted to Mechanical Engineering and want to discuss my lab before making a decision about attending MIT, please send me a note and we can arrange to meet during the ME visit weekend or some other time. It is not necessary to contact me before or during the admissions process, as I do not have influence over admissions decisions and cannot give you feedback on your probability of being admitted. Admissions decisions are made by departmental admissions committees based on the entire pool of applicants.
Many ME students carry out Master’s degree work prior to pursuing the PhD. I sometimes co-supervise such students, usually in collaboration with other ME faculty.
External Master’s Students: The lab has hosted several master’s students from EPFL and other schools. Master’s students must be able to spend at least 9 months on a project, and provide their own funding support. I do not have funding for non-MIT Master’s students.
Undergraduate Students and Summer Interns: MIT UROP students are typically matched through graduate students and postdocs in the lab, often facilitated by Prof. Griffith. Except in unusual circumstances, undergraduates are expected to work in the lab at least one term for credit before applying for paid UROP, especially for summer positions. The lab hosts non-MIT students in the summer through several programs including the EBICS REU, the Amgen Scholars program, and the MIT MSRP program, all of which provide a stipend, assistance with housing, and structured professional development activities. I receive at least 100 requests per year for internships from abroad, and am unable to host students unless they have highly relevant prior training, stay at least 9 months, and have an external source of funding.
High School Students: The lab occasionally hosts high school students, though capacity is limited by high administrative barriers: due to legal requirements, high school students must have a senior lab member by their side in lab at all times. There are occasional projects suitable for high school students, however, availability of such projects varies a lot. We wish we could host more but – lawyers!