Postdoctoral Fellow-MSH-13400-371

Department: Psychiatry 

 

Physical work location:  1255 Fifth Avenue, Suite C1,New  York, NY 10029

 

Name PI or Supervisor: Dr. Natalie Rasgon

 

Web link to Lab: n/a

 

Web link to Department: https://icahn.mssm.edu/about/departments-offices/psychiatry

 

Administrative Contact: (phone and email): Abigail Polanco

This project examines the neurobiological and cognitive consequences of surgically induced menopause. Surgically induced menopause provides a clinically important model of abrupt ovarian hormone deprivation and offers a unique opportunity to study how rapid changes in reproductive endocrine status affect brain structure, function, metabolism, cognition, mood, and risk-related biomarkers. The project will use multimodal neuroimaging together with cognitive, clinical, hormonal, and biological measures to characterize brain and behavioral changes following surgical menopause. The broader aim is to identify neural and multidomain biomarkers that may clarify mechanisms of risk and resilience and inform future strategies for early identification, prevention, and intervention in women’s brain health.

 

 

Technical Duties: (include any protocols)

 

The postdoctoral fellow will be responsible for neuroimaging and multidomain data analysis for the surgically induced menopause project. Duties will include the following:

Develop and implement reproducible workflows for neuroimaging data preprocessing, quality control, analysis, and documentation.

Process and analyse structural MRI and other available neuroimaging modalities,

Generate imaging-derived measures relevant to brain structure, function, ageing, neurodegeneration, and hormone-related brain changes.

Conduct rigorous quality control of imaging data, including visual inspection, automated QC metrics, motion assessment, artefact detection

Integrate neuroimaging measures with cognitive, clinical, hormonal, demographic, treatment-related, and biomarker data.

Apply appropriate statistical models for longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses

Support data harmonisation, data dictionaries, code documentation, version control, and reproducible research practices.

Prepare figures, tables, analytic summaries, abstracts, manuscripts, and grant-related materials.

Work closely with investigators, coordinators, imaging personnel, statisticians, and collaborators to ensure timely completion of project milestones.

Support IRB-compliant data handling.

Contribute to meetings, presentations, manuscript preparation, and dissemination of research findings.

Educational and other Requirements for the position:

 

PhD, MD/PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree in neuroscience, biomedical engineering, computer science, biostatistics, epidemiology, neuroimaging, biomedical data science, or a closely related field.

Strong background in human neuroimaging is required.

Demonstrated ability to conduct independent quantitative analyses.

Experience with statistical programming in R, Python, MATLAB, or equivalent.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary research team.

Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.

Commitment to rigorous, ethical, and reproducible research.

 

Experience Required:

 

Essential experience

Experience with human neuroimaging data analysis.

Experience with MRI preprocessing, quality control, and imaging-derived measures.

Experience with statistical analysis of biomedical, cognitive, clinical, or behavioural data.

Proficiency in at least one major programming or statistical environment, such as Python, R, MATLAB, or similar.

Experience preparing scientific manuscripts, abstracts, reports, or presentations.

 

Preferred experience

Experience with longitudinal data analysis.

Experience with women?s brain health, reproductive psychiatry, menopause, neuroendocrinology, ageing, Alzheimer?s disease risk, or related areas.

 

Goals/Outcomes of the Research Project: 

 

The goals of the project are to define the neurobiological and cognitive effects of surgically induced menopause and to identify imaging and multidomain biomarkers associated with risk, resilience, and adaptation following abrupt ovarian hormone deprivation. Expected outcomes include the development of high-quality neuroimaging and multidomain analytic datasets, reproducible processing and analysis workflows, peer-reviewed manuscripts, conference presentations, and grant-related outputs.

 

SPOC-UAW Local 4100 at Icahn School of Medicine (Post Docs), 859 - Psychiatry - ISM, Icahn School of Medicine