Post-Doctoral Research Scientist

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST

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Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital program, is dedicated to healing the invisible wounds including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), anxiety, depression, co-occurring substance use disorder (SUD), and family relationship challenges for Veterans of all eras, Service Members, Military Connected Families and Families of the Fallen through evidence-based clinical care, wellness, education, and research.

Home Base is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of Veteran and non-Veteran staff including psychologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, nutritionists, exercise physiologists, and speech and language pathologists.

Home Base’s mission is to improve access to evidence-based mental health treatment, with an emphasis on developing and implementing effective and innovative clinical programs.

At Home Base, we are committed to embodying values of anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. We recognize and work collaboratively to address disparities.

We strive to foster an inclusive team environment in which each person has an experience of being valued and respected regardless of their intersecting identities.

The Home Base Sleep, Electrophysiology, and Psychophysiology Laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital ( MGH ) is seeking a full-time, enthusiastic, post-doctoral research scientist with experience using ambulatory polysomnography, actigraphy and other sleep measures, electroencephalography, and psychophysiologic equipment and measures.

The post-doctoral position will be guaranteed for 2 years with the intent to extend this position depending on funding availability.

Interested applicants should apply by emailing a letter of interest, curriculum vitae and list of 3 references addressed to Kaloyan Tanev, MD.

Senior Director of Research, attention Monique Hashimoto email : [email protected]. The position will remain open until an appropriate candidate is identified.

DUTIES :

Competitive candidates will have experience with polysomnography, psychophysiologic methods such as skin conductance, ECG, and heart rate variability, and electrophysiologic methods such as EEG oscillations and time-frequency analysis, and event-related potentials (ERPs).

Preferred candidates will have experience using quantitative EEG methods, such as spectral analyses and sleep-spindle detection as well as coding using Matlab and / or Python.

The candidate will be interested in applying these methods and measures to both patients and healthy populations. The Home Base Psychophysiology Laboratory currently uses Compumedics Somte-PSG ambulatory polysomnography, Compumedics Neuroscan and Biopac MP160 data acquisition hardware, SuperLab 6 stimulus presentation, AcqKnowledge software, and Curry Neuroimaging software.

The post-doctoral fellow will report to the Senior Director of Research and to the Senior Research Administrator. They will collaborate closely with a team of clinical research coordinators (CRCs) and will supervise those involved in sleep, psychophysiology, and neurophysiology research.

Duties will include the development and / or modification of programs to run polysomnography, psychophysiology, and electrophysiology research protocols, managing the Home Base laboratory personnel and equipment, analysis of existing polysomnographic, psychophysiologic, and EEG / ERP data, development of new research protocols, scholarly dissemination of findings, and creatively contributing to a team of experienced clinical researchers and CRCs.

EDUCATION :

The applicant should have a PhD degree in Psychology, biomedical research, sleep neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience or a related discipline with experience conducting sleep, psychophysiological and / or electrophysiologic research.

Expertise in recording, scoring, and analysis of psychophysiologic and / or electrophysiologic measures is expected. Preference will be given to individuals interested in pursuing a research career in Psychopathology, Cognitive Neuroscience, and / or Psychophysiology who are eager and determined to acquire research funding.

Experience with writing grant proposals for NIH and / or DoD funding strengthens application. Having a history of funded research is also a plus.

BACKGROUND :

The positions will be linked to ongoing research projects. Current projects include :

• Investigating sleep quality and physiology before, during, and after trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for PTSD, as well as the relationship between sleep physiology and PTSD symptoms.
• Assessment of psychophysiologic responses while participants recall and imagine trauma-related experiences. Responsivity is used as a screen and outcome measure of a treatment study.
• Assessing loudness dependent auditory evoked potentials as a predictor of response to SSRI treatment.
• Therapeutic potential of lydian-based music for veterans and service members with PTSD.

Additional engagement in the development of projects that investigate the usefulness and application of psychophysiologic and electrophysiologic biomarkers in clinical research is expected.

The candidate will have multiple opportunities to be part of ongoing basic and clinical research activities and potentially collaborate with investigators in the Mass General Brigham Division of Psychiatric Neuroimaging and the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging.

LOCATION :

Home Base, One Constitution Wharf, Suite 140, Charlestown, MA 02129.

EEO STATEMENT :

Massachusetts General Hospital is an Equal Opportunity Employer. By embracing diverse skills, perspectives, and ideas, we choose to lead.

Home Base is committed to building a diverse staff and strongly encourages applications from veterans, candidates of color, and individuals with disabilities.

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