Join us!

The Greenberg lab is currently recruiting graduate students! Our uniquely inclusive and productive lab environment stems from the following areas:

  1. Mentoring: The Greenberg lab has successfully mentored 30 students to the completion of a Ph.D., and Dr. Greenberg has received numerous accolades recognizing her effectiveness as a teacher and mentor. Mentoring in the lab extends beyond just a student-advisor relationship, with upper-level graduate students and researchers acting as informal peer mentors for other students on a daily basis. Read more about mentorship on Dr. Greenberg’s personnel page.
  2. Diversity: Our current team includes researchers and graduate students from eight countries throughout the world! We pride ourselves on creating a welcoming environment for new students both inside and outside of the lab, especially those coming to the United States (and Detroit) for the first time.
  3. Scientific success: Our research has been continuously funded for decades by granting institutions that include the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, and Barth Syndrome Foundation. We actively publish articles (over 125 publications to-date) in well-known research journals, including The Journal of Biological Chemistry, BBA-Lipids, Frontiers, and many others. Read more about our publications and funding.
  4. Student-driven research: Although our research can be broadly divided into two main ongoing projects, many of the specific questions we’ve investigated over the years have come from motivated, inquisitive graduate students. One of the benefits of the Greenberg lab environment is that Dr. Greenberg has the expertise to help guide students in productive research directions while also having the mentor-focused mentality to allow students to independently drive many aspects of their project.
  5. Resources: The Greenberg lab possesses exceptional resources to facilitate research success. Our lab space consists of three wet lab rooms, a dedicated tissue culture room, and a number of private office/study rooms that are separate from the lab. Within our lab space, we maintain a variety of modern, cutting-edge instruments, including a Seahorse analyzer, Clarke-type electrode, multi-mode plate reader, Western blot imaging system, fluorescence microscope, and more. Our long-standing collaborations also provide opportunities for one-of-a-kind lipidomic and metabolic analyses. Finally, with our track record of continuous funding, we have the monetary resources to keep our lab well-supplied and conduct the assays required to answer complex scientific questions.

What will you gain as a member of the Greenberg lab?

Greenberg lab alumni have gone on to pursue careers ranging from academia to industry to government positions. This is possible as a result of the many generalizable skills, opportunities, and achievements you will obtain while working in the lab, including:

  • First author publications
  • Professional research skills
    • Giving captivating presentations
    • Being an effective listener during scientific talks
    • Critiquing the work of others (lab meetings, reviewing papers, journal club discussions)
    • Training in scientific writing (research articles, review articles, grant proposals)
  • Networking with an international community of long-standing collaborators

Our research routinely utilizes the following analytical techniques. Therefore, graduate students in the lab can expect to gain experience and technical expertise in the following methodologies:

  • Western blotting
  • Standard and quantitative PCR (qPCR)
  • Comprehensive yeast genetic analyses (e.g., synthetic genetic arrays)
  • Molecular cloning and genome manipulation (e.g., CRISPR/Cas9)
  • Fluorescence microscopy (epi- and confocal)
  • Assaying mitochondrial function using a Seahorse analyzer

We also collect and utilize large data sets from:

  • Lipidomics
  • Metabolomics
  • RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)
  • Whole genome sequencing
  • Whole genome CRISPR screens (GeCKO)

Interested in joining?

Prospective students should apply through the Wayne State Biological Sciences Graduate Program. We encourage individuals to directly contact any of our current students or Dr. Greenberg with additional questions!

Tips for Selecting a Dissertation Lab:

Many aspiring researchers approach the transition from their undergraduate studies to graduate school with one goal in mind: to obtain a graduate degree. While earning your degree will certainly be an important career achievement, the graduate school experience has an equally important function of training young scientists on how to become successful independent researchers. To this end, there are a number of factors to keep in mind when selecting a lab to join for your dissertation research, and we have put together a list of ‘tips’ to consider in this regard:

  • Compatibility with your mentor/PI (and other lab members) is more important than the type of research you’ll be doing. Prospective students often select potential labs to join based on the research topic the lab studies. While this is a good starting point, it should not be the primary factor that drives your decision. Interpersonal conflicts between students and mentors represent one of the most common reasons for students to leave graduate school before obtaining a degree. On the other hand, it is very common for researchers to change their field of study following graduate school. Therefore, prioritizing a compatible relationship with your mentor-to-be will make life as a graduate student a substantially better experience.
  • Lab funding and publications will impact your success both during and after graduate school. For prospective graduate students, the funding status and publication record of a potential lab may be the last things on their mind. After all, it’s the PI’s job to apply for grants and submit papers for publication, right? There are a few reasons why these factors matter for graduate students: (1) A lab with plentiful money for supplies will give you access to research resources that will make your work easier. (2) Joining a lab that publishes papers frequently increases your opportunities to get your name on publications, especially all-important first author publications associated with your project. Remember that publications will speak louder than your degree alone when applying for your next research position. (3) Working in a lab with a productive track record of funding and publications will give you priceless experience on how to be successful in these areas as your career advances.
  • A good mentor will prioritize your training and respect the value you bring to the lab. In most academic labs, the majority of benchwork is done by graduate students. Therefore, graduate students represent a critical resource for generating data and thereby advancing a lab’s research projects. While some PIs may take this for granted, a good mentor understands that investing in the training and general well-being of their graduate students is in everyone’s best interest to achieve success.