Postdoctoral Fellow: Air pollution, microplastics and Parkinson’s

The Francis Crick Institute and King’s College London seek a postdoctoral fellow to map how air pollution and microplastics leave epigenetic signatures linked to Parkinson’s disease.

Epigenetic Signatures of Environmental Pollutant Exposure: From Air Pollution and Microplastics to Neurodegeneration

This project is jointly supervised by Sarah Marzi at King's College London.

Part of the Crick PACE (Partnerships for Advancement, Collaboration and Excellence) Postdoctoral Fellowship, which supports collaborative research projects with our university partners.

In the:

• Gandhi lab
• Neurodegeneration Biology Laboratory

Key information

• Salary: From £47,500 with benefits, subject to skills and experience
• Application close date: 06 January 2027, 11:59 GMT
• Posted: 24 September 2026
• Crick supervisor: Sonia Gandhi
• King's supervisor: Sarah Marzi

Air pollution and microplastics are emerging environmental risk factors for Parkinson’s disease (PD), but the mechanisms linking peripheral exposure to disease onset and neuronal vulnerability remain undefined. This project brings together highly resolved exposure models established in the Gandhi lab (intranasal PM2.5/microplastics, iPSC modelling, lung-on-chip) with cutting-edge epigenomic approaches in the Marzi lab to map exposure-induced gene regulatory signatures across brain regions and cell types. We will integrate epigenetic data from PM2.5/microplastic-exposed mice and iPSC-derived microglia, oligodendrocytes and neurons with existing toxicant and human postmortem brain epigenomic datasets, identifying convergent regulatory pathways underlying environmentally-induced neurodegeneration. Using single-cell multi-omics and advanced imaging to localise particles in situ, the postdoc will define shared and exposure-specific epigenetic signatures, functionally validate candidate regulators, and test their relevance in human brain. This cross-disciplinary programme delivers unique training spanning toxicology, iPSC modelling and neuroepigenomics, generating a mechanistic resource for exposure-linked Parkinson's disease risk.

Email supervisors: [email protected] , [email protected]

Apply now