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Post-Doctorate Position

Employer
University of Minnesota
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Salary
$49,000 - $52,000
Closing date
Feb 19, 2021

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Post-Doctoral position available in human neuroimaging and sensory testing at the  University of Minnesota School of Dentistry 

 

POSITION OVERVIEW 

 

The Division of TMD & Orofacial Pain (OFP) at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry  (UMN SOD) is seeking a highly motivated Post-Doctoral Associate in the field of human  neuroimaging and sensory testing for an NIH/NIDCR funded project studying brain-related  mechanisms in painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD). The focus of this position will be on  acquisition and analysis of neuroimaging data, as well as performing quantitative sensory (QST)  and endogenous pain modulation (EPM) testing. 

 

This project is led by Dr. Estephan J. Moana-Filho, a dentist-scientist within the TMD & OFP  division, who provides clinical care to OFP patients and is interested in expanding the  knowledge about brain mechanisms in OFP conditions with a focus on painful TMD. The  methods to be used include multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based on the  Human Connectome Project (HCP) sequences (structural, resting and stimulus-evoked BOLD  fMRI, diffusion) combined with sensory testing and psychosocial/behavioral measures (QST,  EPM, questionnaires, clinical measures, etc.). Our goal is to further our understanding of brain  structural and functional networks involved in sensory processing, and potentially underlying  central sensitization features present in painful TMD. 

 

Duties and Responsibilities: 

 

The Post-Doctoral Associate’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to: 1. Implement multimodal MRI data analysis pipelines (structural and functional connectivity,  stimulus-evoked fMRI, diffusion-based tractography and volumetry/cortical thickness  measures) based on the HCP pre-processing pipelines (Glasser et al., 2013). 2. Perform sensory/EPM testing in human participants following standardized protocol (Rolke  et al., 2006) 

 

3. Acquire neuroimaging data following the HCP neuroimaging approach (Glasser et al., 2016),  including stimulus-evoked fMRI. 

 

4. Model and analyze complex datasets including neuroimaging, sensory and clinical data. 

 

Required qualifications: 

 

1. PhD in neuroscience, biomedical engineering, oral biology, psychology, cognitive science,  or a related field. 

 

2. Strong proficiencies with one or more major neuroimaging software suites (e.g., FSL,  Freesurfer, Connectome workbench, AFNI, SPM, etc.) and Unix/Linux environment.  Familiarity with R, Python, and/or Matlab programming languages is a plus. 

 

3. Quantitative and statistical skills, including strong programming skills and comfort with  diverse computing environments such as high-performance computing systems. 4. Comfortable with interacting with human participants. 

 

5. Demonstrated ability to complete projects as evidenced by first-author publication(s). 6. Proficient writing skills, motivated and driven to publish in peer-reviewed journals. 

 

In addition to these requirements, the ideal candidate should have a passion for self-learning,  be inquisitive, critical problem-solving skills and initiative to seek out the resources necessary to  achieve the project’s goals.

 

The Moana-Filho lab is part of a vibrant pain research community at the UMN, with access to  several resources including:  

 

• The Center of Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), a world class MRI research  center with several research dedicated MRI scanners including three 3T Prisma, 7T and  10.5T human scanners.  

 

• The UMN Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (MSI), an interdisciplinary research  resource supporting high-performance computing services. The latest MSI’s system is  among the top 10 university-owned supercomputers in the nation, with a peak  performance of over 670 Tflops and an additional 105 Tflops from a dedicated GPU  subsystem. Its main cluster is also equipped with 40 high memory nodes to  accommodate large memory requirements. These memory nodes feature 1 TB of  memory and large solid state drives for ultra-high performance input/output. All systems  are connected to high-performance parallel storage systems, with a current capacity of  approximately 3 PBytes. MSI staff manage and operate these resources, offering full  support to users in developing and optimizing workflows. 

 

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Funding is available as a one-year  appointment with the possibility of extension. Salary will be competitive and commensurate with  experience. In case of any questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Moana-Filho (moana004 at  umn dot edu). 

 

To apply, click on “External Applicants” under the banner “Apply now!” and search for Job  Opening 337497: https://humanresources.umn.edu/content/find-job

 

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