Postdoctoral Fellowship Opportunity - Clinical Neuroscience for Traumatic Brain Injury
About the Pape Lab & Clinical Research for TBI at Hines VA
Dr. Theresa Pape and the Pape Lab at Hines VA and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Physical Rehabilitation Medicine, are focused on multiple aspects of advancing the care of traumatic brain injury (TBI), including novel treatments, methodologies and advancing neurobehavioral and neuroscience psychometric measures in TBI. Specifically, they are currently running clinical trials with TMS, cognitive-behavioral training, sound-based therapies and home-based treatment/assessment models. Their clinical trials are often nationally and internationally collaborative. The primary location for the open advanced postdoctoral positions is at Edward Hines VA, in Maywood, IL, with treatment sites at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago IL.
Position Description
There are openings for two 24-month postdoctoral positions, with potential for 3rd year renewal, in clinical and translational neuroscience. Research population is mild to severe TBI, using TMS, cognitive training and sound-based therapies for treatment, with clinical neurobehavioral assessment, EEG, EMG, fRMI, DTI and psychological batteries to assess treatment outcomes. The postdoc role will involve participation and training all aspects of clinical trials research, including multi-team collaborations, study design, grant writing, resource acquisition, study implementation and support, treatment administration and data collection, biomedical hardware support, data analysis and manuscript preparation.
Role provides different training opportunities, depending on your career goals:
- Advance your own clinical research platform for early career grants
- Advance skills as a clinical research manager
- Establish collaborations as a team-based technical neuroscientist
Primary Responsibilities:
- Translational Neuroscience review/contribution to grants & papers
- EEG study design, implementation and analysis
- Clinical treatment administration
- Ownership/support for biomedical equipment in research studies
- Ownership of data storage/archive on secure servers
- Research administrative support – i.e., contribute to the creation and maintenance of regulatory documentation (IRB, FDA, etc.), biomedical certifications and property passes/lease agreements between sites, etc. as needed.
- Maintaining study technical support at treatment sites (e.g., moving/trouble-shooting hardware, ordering materials & supplies, producing standard operating procedures (SOP) for study team.
Requirements:
- US Citizenship
- Neuroscience PhD & cognitive neuroscience research experience
- Highly motivated & Independent self-starter
- Strong experience with EEG design & analysis
- Excellent technical skills/aptitude (troubleshooting hardware/software failures)
- Some clinical exposure and strong interpersonal skills working with medical staff, patient populations and families
- Must have a car, and be willing to drive between treatment sites
- Must be able to pick up 50 lbs to periodically move hardware between treatment sites
- Computer skills:
- Fluent in MAC, PC, Linux (& setting up virtual machines)
- Strong script level programming experience
- Additional skills desired:
- Clinical training/experience
- Interest/background in sound-based therapies
- fMRI design/analysis
Application Procedure:
Stage 1: Initial screening: Please send CV with a list of publications and motivation letter to Sherri.Livengood@northwestern.edu.
Stage 2: Phone interview with team. If they have a match, they will work with you to develop your fellowship application for the VA.
Stage 3: Fellowship application with team
The VA offers advanced post-doctoral fellowships in polytrauma, to train researchers and medical staff in the service and science of providing exemplary care for our Veterans who sustain multiple injuries in service to our country. The application process requires an initial screening, followed by the submission of a research and training proposal, developed with a VA principal investigator; in this case, Dr. Pape and her lab. Once submitted, the application takes on average about 6 weeks for approval. VA hiring/funding mechanisms can take an additional 4-8 weeks to commence, and include a background check and drug screen.