Post-doctoral fellow: affective and cognitive neuroimaging on a personalized behavior change study of mood and physical health
TRAINING DESCRIPTION
A post-doctoral position is available for a qualified and creative scientist with training in the use and analysis of functional neuroimaging. Experience in functional neuroimaging with human clinical participants is especially desirable.
This study is funded under the NIH Science of Behavior Change priority initiative. We are acquiring a high-dimensional imaging dataset over five repeat sessions. Participants also complete a cognitive-emotional behavior battery and virtual reality sessions during the in-person visits. Outside the lab sessions, the study includes smartphone passive sampling of daily experiences.
In this study, we are investigating the plasticity of brain circuits related to emotional and cognitive self-regulation. Plasticity will be related experimentally to an intensive behavioral intervention that is provided by an existing study, conducted in partnership with this new study. The focus of analysis will be on the activation and connectivity of large-scale human brain circuits implicated in aspects of self-regulation, including emotion regulation, cognitive control and self-reflection. We will acquire both task-elicited and resting state imaging data. Imaging data will be related to behavioral information from the cognitive-emotional battery and from virtual reality environments, and to daily experiences.
This three-year study is the first phase of a two-phase, five-year project funded through the NIH Common Fund’s Science of Behavior Change roadmap initiative. The position will be based at Stanford, within the William’s PanLab. The project involves a collaboration between co-PIs at the University of Illinois-Chicago, the Stanford University School of Medicine, and project investigators at Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute and the University of Washington-Seattle.
DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
The candidate must have a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience/neuroimaging or related fields.
The position requires:
- Profound experience in statistical analysis using functional magnetic resonance imaging in particular. Computational approaches will include multiple forms of connectivity analysis and the integration of neuroimaging data with behavioral and self-report data.
- A demonstrated capacity to drive first author publications.
- A clear interest and motivation to pursue research in neuroimaging, personalized neuroscience, and innovative ways to think about the science of behavior change.
- The capacity to interpret the clinical relevance of neuroimaging results.
Written and verbal communication skills, the ability to work collaboratively, and self-motivation are highly valued.
APPLICATIONS
For more information, contact engagestudy@stanford.edu .
Send applications with a resume and cover letter to engagestudy@stanford.edu .
The position is open until filled.
ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
The supervising PI for this position is Dr. Leanne M. Williams, Stanford University.
The co-PI is Dr. Jun Ma, University of Illinois-Chicago.
For more information see:
https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/leanne-williams
http://med.stanford.edu/williamslab/
The position will be based within Dr. Williams’ Personalized and Translational Neuroscience Lab, the PanLab, at Stanford University. The PanLab has a twin lab site at the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) in Palo Alto, California.
The PanLab is based within the Major Laboratories and Clinical and Translational Neuroscience division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.
The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Stanford School of Medicine maintains a staff of hardware and software technicians to support faculty research. The Department also maintains a machine and electronics shop and similar facilities are available on campus. On-call clinical resources are detailed in the letter in the Protection of Human Subjects section.