FYI -----------------

*Post-doc position on asymptomatic individuals with autosomal dominant early onset Alzheimer Disease.*

_Project:_

A post-doctoral position is available in the Unit U1077 at the CYCERON imaging Centre in Caen, France.

The postdoc will lead a multidisciplinary project on asymptomatic individuals with autosomal dominant early onset Alzheimer's disease (ADEOAD). This population provides a unique opportunity to assess the preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease and to seek predictive markers of AD at a stage where no lesion or symptom could be detected. ADEOAD typically has an early (<60 years) and predictable age of onset (Pastor and Goate, 2004), which makes this population an ideal candidate for comprehensive longitudinal imaging /prior /to the onset of clinical symptoms. ADEOAD thus offers an attractive model to determine the sequence of biomarker changes in pre-symptomatic gene carriers who are destined to develop AD which may reveal critical information about the pathophysiological cascade that culminates in symptomatic disease.

Children of a parent with a mutated gene known to cause dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease (currently in one of three genes: /APP, PSEN1, PSEN2/) will be recruited throughout France and will be assessed using complementary examination including biological, genetic and CSF analyses, neuropsychological testing and a series of complementary neuroimaging scans.

The candidate will lead her/his research work within Dr Gaël Chételat's team in the framework of a large multimodal neuroimaging project called IMAP and in interaction with the other team members as well several partners and collaborators. She/he will have more particularly in charge the analysis of neuroimaging data in relationships with other data modalities (biological, genetic and cognitive).

_ _

_Institution:_

Established in Caen since 2002, our Inserm unit studies human memory of healthy volunteers and of patients with various pathologies (Alzheimer's and related syndromes, amnestic syndromes...). The project entitled Multimodal Neuroimaging of Early Alzheimer's disease (IMAP project) represents a central thematic in the Research Unit. This multidisciplinary project associates neuroimaging, neuropsychology, biology and genetic. It is conducted in the CYCERON biomedical imaging platform including a high-field MRI and a PET/CT hybrid camera both fully dedicated to research and in close interactions with clinicians and hospital facilities.

_Candidate background:_

ü A PhD degree on a topic relevant to the project (physics, neuroscience, biology, neuroimaging), a record of published research and familiarity with imaging are essential.

ü The applicant should be able to work independently as well as in close interaction with the team members

ü Expertise, experience and interest in brain imaging (MRI, PET), imaging analyses software, signal processing and programming skills are desirable. Familiarity with practical and statistical neuroimaging methods is desirable

*The position is available immediately and up to March 2013 for a 2 years contract.*

*Applications should be sent before October 31, 2012. *Interviews of pre-selected candidates will be held soon thereafter.__

/Applicants should send a detailed CV and a cover letter. At least one recommendation letter would be welcome. For additional information or to apply, contact:/

/Loïc Doeuvre: doeuvre@cyceron.fr mailto:doeuvre@cyceron.fr/