Open
position:
PhD in “multimodal
imaging to understand vulnerability for developing schizophrenia”
Developmental
Imaging and Psychopathology laboratory
Campus
Biotech
Starting
date: to be defined
Working environment: In the context of a
longitudinal study started 15 years ago, we perform a multidisciplinary
evaluation of patients with the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a neurogenetic
condition that confers a high-risk of developing schizophrenia. Our protocol
includes acquisitions of structural, functional and diffusion images and their
analysis with gold-standard neuroimaging tools. By investigating morphological
and connectivity alterations associated to the microdeletion and to the onset
of psychotic symptoms, we aim at identifying potential biomarkers for the
development of schizophrenia.
Tasks of the PhD
student:
-
To
work in collaboration with clinical and engineering departments for the
development and application of new methodologies;
-
To
analyze complex multimodal and longitudinal fMRI data;
-
To
participate to MRI data acquisition;
-
Manuscripts
redaction.
Methods employed in the
lab:
Cortical morphometry (thickness, gyrification), voxel-based DTI, tractography, resting-state
fMRI, graph theory, pattern recognition, multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA).
Toolboxes employed in
the lab:
Matlab, SPM, FSL, FreeSurfer, connectomemapper.
Academic requirements: We are looking for
young, nearly graduated students with a master degree in medicine, psychology,
biology, sciences, neurosciences or equivalent title. Expertise in brain imaging
and/or programming is not mandatory but highly preferred.
Contact: The candidature
(motivation letter, CV, copy of the diploma and graduations, eventually letter
of recommendation) has to be sent preferentially by email to the following
addresses:
Maria Carmela PADULA (maria.padula@unige.ch)
Maude SCHNEIDER (maude.schneider@unige.ch)
Campus Biotech
Chemin des Mines 9
1202 Genève
022/379.12.28