*Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position at University of Pittsburgh *

The Maternal Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, headed by Drs. Eydie Moses-Kolko, Alison Hipwell and Mary Phillips at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of the University of Pittsburgh, seeks a full-time postdoctoral research fellow supported by funds from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The start date is flexible, although Fall 2013 is preferred. This position is for up to 2.5 years.

We are looking for a postdoctoral associate to work on a study investigating the neural underpinnings of affective disorders and mother-infant caregiving in young, 3-6mo postpartum mothers. Specifically, the postdoctoral associate will be involved with the neuroimaging component of the study, which measures responding in neural reward circuits, affective face-processing circuits, empathy circuits while attending to infant cry, as well as resting neural circuitry. This R01 grant funded by the NICHD is a substudy of the Pittsburgh Girls’ Study, a longitudinal study in which measures of affective, cognitive, and behavioral functioning in a large, high-risk sample have been measured since childhood. This substudy project can thereby test scientific questions within a developmental context as well as examine transgeneration mechanisms of psychopathology.

The successful candidate will primarily be responsible for collecting and analyzing fMRI and behavioral data and writing scientific papers and giving scientific presentations. Other duties will include assisting as needed with evaluations of mothers and infants and to follow study procedures regarding management of data, to generally add to the smooth flow of the project as needed. This relies on close collaboration with research coordinators, research assistants, graduate and undergraduate students, and investigators. Position qualifications include a PhD in psychology, neuroscience, or a related field or an MD psychiatrist at the postdoctoral level; experience with fMRI acquisition and analysis; strong experimental and statistical skills; the ability to work independently and in a team environment on multiple tasks and projects and to share one’s expertise with others. Experience with neuroimaging software programs (AFNI, FSL, MATLAB, SPM, or other relevant programs), programming for fMRI tasks (E-prime, Presentation), and statistical analysis (SPM, SPSS, SAS) is highly desired. Strong interests in the development and pathophysiology of depression and are valuable. Excellent scientific writing skills are also desired.

Located in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC (WPIC) is considered one of the nation's foremost university-based psychiatric care facilities, housing the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. For more than 60 years, WPIC has been a national leader in providing research-based care and treatment of mental health and addictive disorders. As part of UPMC, WPIC provides a comprehensive range of behavioral health services for individuals, including children, adolescents, adults, and seniors who are at every stage in their recovery.

WPIC has a large community of post-doctoral scholars and associates and a longstanding history of success in developing post-doctoral researchers toward independent research careers. The Department of Psychiatry has a total research portfolio of over $ 70 million annually, including nine T32 post-doctoral training grants. During the current fiscal year, these grants support a community of more than 68 post-doctoral researchers whose research career development is supported by structured and informal mentoring activities. Our faculty have a strong commitment to excellence in mentorship.

Please address questions or send a letter of research interests, a CV and contact information for three references to Eydie Moses-Kolko (mosesEL@upmc.edu mailto:mosesEL@upmc.edu). Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Thank you for your interest,

Eydie Moses-Kolko

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Eydie Moses-Kolko, MD

Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

office: 412-624-9152

fax: 412-383-8336