| Full Description |
Dr. Sylia Wilson (University of Minnesota) in the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research (MCTFR) and Dr. Jonathan Schaefer (Vanderbilt University) seek to hire a postdoctoral researcher to investigate the implications of social inequality (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage, discrimination) on the adolescent and adult brain, and neurocognitive, psychiatric, and psychosocial functioning, using largescale, genetically informative twin and family datasets from the MCTFR and Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. As part of a five-year project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the postdoctoral researcher will be primarily responsible for leading and contributing to manuscripts developing from this project. There will also be opportunities to collaborate with Co-Investigators Drs. Daniel Berry, Damien Fair, Eric Feczko, Monica Luciana, and Oscar Miranda-Dominguez using the neurocognitive and multimodal imaging data to develop novel brain-based indicators of functioning, including brain-wide polyneuro scores.
The postdoctoral researcher will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers (including clinical/developmental psychologists, neuroscientists, behavior geneticists, and statisticians; faculty, postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students) interested in understanding the individual and contextual contributors to functioning, the development of substance use and related psychopathology, and the mediating role of brain structure and function. In addition to the primary project, the MCTFR has several ongoing, largescale, NIH-funded projects led by its PIs, Drs. Robert Krueger, Monica Luciana, Matt McGue, Glenn Roisman, and Scott Vrieze, and Sylia Wilson examining biological and environmental contributors to the development and intergenerational transmission of substance use and related psychopathology. The MCTFR and ABCD datasets include comprehensive, multimodal (clinical, personality, neurocognitive, psychophysiological, imaging) data that have been collected at multiple time points in family, twin, and adoption samples prospectively assessed from late childhood into adolescence (ABCD) and middle adulthood (MCTFR). The postdoctoral researcher will have ample opportunities to work with and prepare manuscripts using existing data from these projects, and there are excellent opportunities to develop an independent program of research in addition to working with these data, as well as pursue independent research funding (e.g., K01, K99/R00).
Candidate expectations are: (1) PhD in psychology, neuroscience, or related field; (2) psychology, developmental, neuroimaging, behavioral genetics, and/or quantitative methods experience; (3) excellent written communication skills as demonstrated by scientific publications; (4) excellent organizational and time management skills; and (5) ability to problem solve and work collaboratively as a team.
The postdoctoral researcher may be based out of the University of Minnesota or Vanderbilt University, and will report directly to Dr. Sylia Wilson (University of Minnesota) or Dr. Jonathan Schaefer (Vanderbilt University).
Major Responsibilities
• (10%) Collaborate with project investigators, other postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students to develop and advance research projects;
• (20%) Prepare, process, and analyze relevant project data, including imaging data;
• (40%) Develop and complete hypothesis driven research addressing the major specific aims of the project, as well as related research;
• (10%) Attend project meetings and prepare preliminary reports;
• (20%) Prepare manuscripts for publication, including data analysis and writing; publish at least four papers annually in top research journals.
Essential Qualifications
• PhD in psychology, neuroscience or related field;
• Psychology, neuroscience, behavior genetics, and/or quantitative research experience.
Preferred Qualifications
• Strong publication record in top research journals;
• Substance use and/or psychopathology experience;
• Skills using standard programming software (e.g. R, Mplus);
• Prior experience preparing proposals for sponsored research funding;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. |