Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and the Psychiatric Neuroimaging Division of the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA and Harvard Medical School

Position Description: Clinical/Cognitive Neuroscience Research

Project: Multimodal neuroimaging studies of sleep and memory

PI: Dara S. Manoach, Ph.D.

The position will involve investigating the role of sleep in memory consolidation, how these processes go awry in schizophrenia and autism, and the effects of pharmacological and other interventions.  Our work has linked cognitive deficits to specific heritable mechanisms (sleep spindles and other sleep oscillations) and we are seeking effective interventions.  In collaboration with Dr. Robert Stickgold’s lab at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, we are extending and expanding this basic and clinical research program using state-of-the art tools including high density EEG, MEG, DTI, functional connectivity MRI, fMRI, and behavioral studies.  We are seeking someone to participate in these foundation and NIMH-funded investigations who is familiar with cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging methodology including MEG and/or EEG and data analysis, and is interested in developing research questions and optimizing analysis streams tailored to the study aims and populations.  New approaches and ideas are encouraged, as are independent projects that dovetail with current studies.  The position requires working closely with the PI, as well as with Dr. Stickgold, other Martinos Center investigators, particularly Dr. Matti Hamalainen, Director of the MEG Core Lab, and lab mates to design studies, acquire data, and develop, explore, improve and apply data analytic techniques. Training in clinical research and in the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of neuroimaging data will be provided.

Requirements: PhD (or MD) in neuroscience, psychology, engineering or a related discipline and a strong research background are required. Ideal candidates would have extensive experience in data analysis, a background in computational neuroscience and/or signal processing, be proficient in Matlab/Python and be interested in methods development. The following are also beneficial: experience with MEG/EEG data analysis/methodology, background in cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology and sleep; interest/experience with clinical populations; and experience in task design and analysis for cognitive experiments.