The University Health Network, where “above all else the needs of patients come first”, encompasses Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the Michener Institute of Education. The breadth of research, the complexity of the cases treated, and the magnitude of its educational enterprise has made UHN a national and international resource for patient care, research and education. With a long tradition of ground breaking firsts and a purpose of “Transforming lives and communities through excellence in care, discovery and learning”, the University Health Network (UHN), Canada’s largest research teaching hospital, brings together over 16,000 employees, more than 1,200 physicians, 8,000+ students, and many volunteers. UHN is a caring, creative place where amazing people are amazing the world!

www.uhn.ca

Position Summary

Our nervous system has evolved to control behavior and networks of cells distributed in many different brain regions are dedicated to motor planning, learning, and execution. But to drive the body and enact behavior, nearly all of these signals must converge on the spinal cord. Here,



a diverse array of neural populations work together, integrating streams of descending and sensory signals and then transforming this information into coordinated patterns of muscle contractions. What is the internal logic of this essential process? What are the key neural computations and how are they carried out by the cell types and circuits of the cord? The Levine lab seeks to answer these questions by characterizing the neural components of the spinal cord, probing how specific elements contribute to motor control in mice, and bringing the resulting discoveries to advance human health.

We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow to investigate how specific spinal cord cell types and sensory elements contribute to behavior in mice. This work will also test the links between cell type identify, connectivity, and function by bringing together several powerful approaches including circuit tracing, cell-type specific manipulation, closed-loop optogenetics, and quantitative behavioral tracking. There is significant prospect to co-design and lead projects.

Duties

📌 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Spinal Mechanisms of Motor Control – Cell-Type & Circuit Function (Toronto)
🏢 University Health Network
📍 Toronto