Simultaneous Monitoring of Multiple Intracellular Signaling Events
This grant aims to develop new tools using quantum dots for real-time, multiplexed detection of various intracellular signaling events, improving disease diagnosis and drug development.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
NRC Research Associateship Programs has archived this opportunity.
Funder: NRC Research Associateship Programs
Due Dates: May 1, 2025 (Application Deadline)
Funding Amounts: $99,200 stipend plus $3,000 travel allowance; typical postdoctoral fellowship duration 2-3 years
Summary: Supports postdoctoral research to develop quantum dot-based tools for real-time, multiplexed monitoring of multiple intracellular signaling events to advance disease diagnosis and drug development.
Key Information: Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents; requires Ph.D. earned within 5 years; research conducted at Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.
Description
This fellowship opportunity supports postdoctoral researchers to develop innovative tools for the simultaneous, real-time monitoring of multiple intracellular signaling events using luminescent semiconductor nanocrystals known as quantum dots (QDs). Cell signaling converts external stimuli into measurable cellular responses such as proliferation, differentiation, growth, apoptosis, or necrosis, mediated by diverse signaling molecules including proteins (kinases, proteases, transcription factors), nucleic acids (mRNA transcripts), and metabolites.
Current technologies for monitoring signaling molecules are limited to either offline detection (providing static snapshots) or real-time detection of only a single class of signaling event, often relying on low-resolution organic fluorophores or FRET pairs. This project aims to overcome these limitations by leveraging the unique properties of QDs, which can be excited at a single wavelength and used in multiplexed FRET assays, enabling high-resolution, multiplexed detection of signaling events in situ.
The research will focus on developing and characterizing sensors targeting key classes of signaling molecules within mammalian cells, including cell surface receptors, protein kinases, proteases, transcription factors, mRNA transcripts, and secondary messengers like calcium. The tools developed will have broad applications, from profiling host responses to pathogen infection and monitoring viral infections, to potential use in artificial cell platforms.
