Post Doctoral Associate-Schwerdt Lab Bioengineering - Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh - 24003573

The Schwerdt Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh has an opening for a Postdoctoral Associate in Probing the Role of Dopamine in Mood and Movement Control in Nonhuman Primates including Models of Parkinson's Disease. The research involves applying multi-modal brain implantable systems in non-human primates NHPs, rhesus monkeys to uncover the co-active molecular dopamine and electrical neural signaling underlying key decision-making, mood regulation, motor control behaviors, and how these evolve over the course of learning in health and in disease e.g. Parkinson's disease. The Schwerdt lab previously established cutting-edge methods to look at brain activity in a new way, that is, by recording both chemical i.e. dopamine and electrical spike and local field potential neural activity using electrochemistry FSCV and electrophysiology, respectively, and to be able to do this over chronic year-long time scales. This position involves leading experimental design to collect and analyze large-scale neural signals dopamine, spikes, and oscillations made from the striatum and interconnected basal ganglia regions of task-performing rhesus monkeys.

This position offers opportunities for growth and expansion of skills in advanced primate neurophysiology and brain activity mapping e.g. electrochemistry, electrophysiology, microstimulation, neurosurgery, task design, microfabrication, and systems neuroscience. The individual is expected to work as a team with the principal investigator other undergraduate and graduate students, and laboratory technicians. The individual is expected to prepare and write high-quality journal papers for peer-review and scientific dissemination, present significant research progress in scientific workshops and/or conferences, and participate in grant writing.

Candidates should hold a Ph.D. in neuroscience, engineering electrical, bio-, biomedical, chemical, or mechanical, biology, psychology, computer science or another computational major, mathematics, physics, or other related fields e.g. chemistry, neurobiology, etc. and have effective communication and interpersonal skills, organizational skills, strong work ethics and motivational drive, the ability to design and carry out research independently, and evidence of sufficient research experiences e.g. publication record. Highly competitive applicants will have experience in one or more of the following: non-human primate electrophysiology; neuroscience; behavioral training and task design; computational analysis, modeling, and programming in Matlab; data science, statistics, machine learning or other advanced mathematical computational and analytic techniques to analyze neural data; animal handling and surgeries; and/or grant writing.

The University of Pittsburgh is committed to championing all aspects of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within our community. This commitment is a fundamental value of the University and is crucial in helping us advance our mission, which includes attracting and retaining diverse workforces. We will continue to create and maintain an environment that allows individuals to discover, belong, contribute, and grow, while honoring the experiences, perspectives, and unique identities of all.

The University of Pittsburgh is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and values equality of opportunity, human dignity and diversity. EOE, including disability/vets.

Assignment Category: Full-time regular Campus: Pittsburgh Required Attachments: Curriculum Vitae Assignment Category Full-time regular PI251000422