Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neuroimaging
We are seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow with the NIA-funded Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA) MRI study at the University of California San Diego in the Department of Psychiatry. The UCSD Department of Psychiatry is one of the top Psychiatry departments in the country. VETSA comprises a set of longitudinal studies focused on behavior genetics of cognitive and brain aging as well and risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The position is for an initial 2-year postdoc fellowship with the opportunity to extend.
VETSA has been funded continuously since 2002 and constitutes a rich study that can address a wide variety of important research questions elucidating risk and protective factors for cognitive and brain aging as well as life course development. In-depth cognitive, psychosocial and health, biomarker, GWAS, multi-omic, and air pollution exposure data have been collected in over 1600 participants across 3 waves with multi-modal neuroimaging acquired on approximately one third of the sample. A 4th wave of data collection is well underway. The MRI sessions include structural, diffusion, and arterial spin labeling (ASL) acquisitions. The fellowship also includes opportunities to participate
in several international consortia, including CHARGE, ENIGMA, IGEMS, and PGC.
Responsibilities: The candidate will have opportunities to participate in all aspects of analysis and interpretation of data. This will primarily focus on neuroimaging-related analysis, but also includes traditional twin analyses, GWAS, polygenic risk scores, causal-modeling and biomarker analyses. The candidate will be heavily involved in writing and preparation of manuscripts, presentations for scientific meetings, and grant writing. The candidate will be encouraged and mentored to develop their own independent research program. There will be ample opportunity to interact with a large multidisciplinary multi-site team of over a dozen investigators at UCSD and with VETSA faculty at other institutions including Boston, Virginia Commonwealth University, and University of California
Riverside.
Qualifications: We are recruiting applicants with:
• Expertise in neuroimaging analysis
• Demonstrated experience and strong interest in neuropsychology, aging, Alzheimer’s disease,
genetics, and/or health-related factors.
• A Ph.D. in psychology, cognitive science, or a related field
• A strong statistical background and excellent written and oral communication skills.
Salary: NIH rates based on experience; UCSD has excellent benefits.
Start date: Positions are open now and review of applications is ongoing.
To apply: Please submit a cover letter, CV, and letters from 3 references to Drs. Jeremy Elman
(jaelman@health.ucsd.edu) and William Kremen (wkremen@health.ucsd.edu).