Postion and Lab Description: The Developmental Neuroimaging Research Lab (Gao Lab) at the Biomedical Imaging Research Institute of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has two postdoctoral positions available to work on NIH-funded stuies investigating the brain’s typical growth trajectories and risk-related alterations due to eiehter prenatal drug exposures or genetic risks using advanced neuroimaging techniques (e.g., rsfMRI, DTI, structural MRI, etc). The lab is supported by multiple NIH grants focusing on delineating both the normal brain development trajectories and risk-related alterations, including prenatal drug exposures, genetic risks, maternal obesity, poverty, among others. Novel gut-brain axis studies trying to delineate the relationship between gut microbiome and brain functional development are also explored in the lab. The Gao Lab leads the Cedars-Sinai site for the the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study, representing an unprecedented opportunity to explore all developmental questions using the biggest and richest dataset to date. The candidates will have a unique opportunity to work on a diverse range of research topics with a strategic focus on early brain and behavioral development.
Bigger Environment: Our local team of experts include neuroimagers, developmental psychologists, neonatologists, OBGYN, substance use disorder treatment specialists, imaging physicists, and biostatisticians. The lab is also actively expanding efforts and working with our Computational Medicine department on AI approaches for better prediction of developomental outcomes based on imaging data. As part of the Neuroimaging program at Cedars-Sinai, the Gao Lab is also actively collaborating with other teams on campus to study brain mechanisms underling normal and abnormal aging (e.g., Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, etc.), novel VR-based pain therapy, among others. So if you are interested in any of these areas, we have great opportunities too. Overall, the cadidates will have great opportunities to work with a diverse team of experts from multiple areas.
Qualification/experience: Research experiences in one or more of the MRI modalities, including resting-state fMRI, diffusion MRI, structural MRI is required. Proficient programing skills in Matlab and other languages (e.g., Python, R) is strongly preferred. Experiences in machine-learning approaches/applications represent a significant plus.
If interested, please send a CV, statement of research interests, one or more PDFs of representative publications, and contact details of two references to Wei Gao (wei.gao@cshs.org).