Postdoctoral Research Scientist

We have an exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral Research Scientist  has arisen from The Wellcome Trust grant entitled “Sensitising brain MRI to cell type and shape” awarded to a team of investigators including Professors Jason Lerch, Karla Miller, Saad Jbabdi, Alan Jasanoff (MIT), and Stamatios Sotiropoulos (Nottingham) and the NIH grant entitled “Analyzing brain-wide bases of neuroplastic change using new imaging tools” tentatively awarded to Alan Jasanoff (MIT) and Jason Lerch. This post will be based at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Oxford.

 

In these proposals we seek to sensitise MRI to cell type and shape and use these tools to explore brain plasticity and inter-individual variation. We will do so by (1) developing novel molecular MRI contrasts that provide cell or molecule specific signatures read out through the widely used BOLD signal and combining high resolution diffusion and quantitative MRI with 2D and 3D histology and transcriptomics to generate models that can predict cell distribution and optimise mesoscopic brain connectivity. We will then use these tools to address several paradigmatic questions about brain-wide plasticity (1) What are the spatiotemporal relationships between neural activity and plasticity gene induction? (2) How are experience-dependent changes in the physical structure of the brain driven by molecular and cellular processes? (3) How does repeated exposure to a stimulus or behavior affect characteristics of plasticity phenomena throughout the brain? (4) What features of neuroplasticity are predictive of individual behavioral variability? All work will be carried out in mice.

 

The post holder will be a member of the Preclinical Imaging Group led by Jason Lerch, and will be responsible for carrying out research as outlined in the project in a close collaboration with the groups of Professors Alan Jasanoff (MIT), Karla Miller and Saad Jbabdi (Oxford), and Stamatios Sotiropoulos (Nottingham). The post holder will also provide guidance to less experienced members of the research groups, including postdocs, research assistants, technicians, and PhD and project students.

 

Please see the below 'Job Description' for further details on the role, responsibilities, and selection criteria, as well as further information about the university and how to apply.

 

 

 

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