Biomedical Engineer

Leidos•Houston, TX

21h•Hybrid

About The Position

On the Human Health and Performance Contract, we are at the forefront of safeguarding astronaut health, ensuring human performance, and advancing technologies for human space exploration. We are seeking a PhD Scientist in Biomedical Engineering with expertise in analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX. In this role, you will be a critical scientist of the Cardiovascular and Vision Laboratory in the Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences Division at NASA Johnson Space Center. The overarching goal of the Cardiovascular and Vision Laboratory is to develop and disseminate knowledge about the effects of spaceflight on the human body in support of NASA missions. The central focus of the laboratory is to (1) characterize the risks to crewmember health and performance of critical operational tasks and (2) develop countermeasures to mitigate the spaceflight-related changes in cardiovascular and central nervous systems function during and after spaceflight. The laboratory supports ground-based research on a variety of platforms and in-flight investigations, including crew health monitoring, risk mitigation operational activities, and countermeasures evaluation and validation research.

Requirements

PhD in biomedical or mechanical engineering, neurology, or a closely related field, with at least two years' post-doc experience.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, with demonstrated scientific productivity (e.g., manuscripts, reports) and experience collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting human subject data to diverse audiences including scientists, physicians, engineers, and managers.
Strong programming skills with the ability to independently write well-documented, maintainable code in MATLAB or Python.
Experience with central nervous system research, including collection and analysis of human brain MRI data and development and use of image analysis pipelines.
Familiarity with basic statistical techniques and principles of experimental design.
Knowledge of human physiology, particularly in the context of biomedical experiments related to human adaptive responses to spaceflight and analogs.
Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, work independently and within small, multidisciplinary teams, and effectively navigate shifting or competing priorities.
Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.
Advanced PC skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office products.
Ability to develop a thorough understanding of NASA and KBR policies and procedures governing the use of human test subjects.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading research design and execution to help answer applied human spaceflight questions.
Experience magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and image analysis and judgment to develop innovative solutions to problems that will inform NASA’s future spaceflight mission planning and preparation.
Expertise with writing and reviewing codes developed in Python and/or Matlab.
Experience developing data visualizations to inform decision making.
Research experience supporting NASA.

Responsibilities

Participate as a member of a research team working closely with principal investigators, astronauts, test subject participants, support scientists, and engineers.
Develop/prepare and provide inputs to grant proposals, reports, and manuscripts.
Assist in the development and implementation of human research protocols and detailed test plans.
Collaborate with customer to define project requirements and ensure all study requirements are thoroughly verified and validated.
Prepare Institutional Review Board and other documentation required for human research testing at JSC.
Collect, reduce, collate, analyze, and archive operational, flight, flight analog, and ground data.
Design, develop and/or modify software and other analysis tools needed to support data collection and testing, and for data reduction and analysis.
Contribute to the formulation and documentation of standard procedures in the laboratory.
Participate in scientific conferences, interact with extramural scientists, and present at JSC review boards.
Willingness and ability to undertake domestic and foreign travel, as required, to support spaceflight, bed rest, and ground-based experiments.