Faculty Position - Pediatric Translational Behavioral Neuroscience Research

Emory • Atlanta, GA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Center for Behavioral and Mental Health at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Children’s Center for Neurosciences Research at Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are jointly seeking a faculty member to advance a translational discovery agenda. Candidates must conduct research that is relevant to improving the care of infants and children who are at elevated risk for the development of neuropsychiatric disorders (on the basis of genetic, environmental or combined causal influences). Physician-scientists are encouraged to apply, and an MD and/or PhD is required. We seek candidates with research vision who can develop and lead a translational research agenda that studies behavior and mental health using approaches grounded in neuroscience. Ideal candidates will have technological experience in neuroscience and be prepared to harness these technologies to advance knowledge of causal mechanisms in brain and behavioral development and to define potential targets for higher-impact therapies for neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood. Areas of particular interest include in-depth studies of causation, tracing genetic, epigenetic, and/or environmental variation to the developmental processes that govern brain and behavioral maturation. We encourage approaches that involve translatable model systems or innovative clinical trials and that capitalize on strategic collections of biomaterials, brain imaging or behavioral data from developing children. The candidate is expected to develop an innovative, externally funded research program that leverages both the clinical infrastructure of the Center for Behavioral and Mental Health and the collaborative community of scientists and technicians within the Children’s Center for Neurosciences Research. Scientific agendas focused on parsimonious developmental mediators of psychiatric conditions are of great interest, including mood dysregulation, the p factor, autism-related variation in reciprocal social behavior, callous-unemotional traits, risk profiles indexed by early childhood temperament, or brain/behavioral sequalae of early emotional trauma. This position entails access to clinical electronic health record data from a large, evolving learning health system for child mental health, designed to model timely delivery of the complete continuum of evidence-based care to a representative population of infants, children, and adolescents, over 65% of whom are governmentally insured. Primary faculty appointment will be in Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, Division of Behavioral and Mental Health with a secondary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. We offer a highly interactive collegial research environment with state-of-the-art facilities, as well as proximity to and collaborations with the world renown Marcus Autism Center, the Emory National Primate Research Center, and the Grady Trauma Project.

Requirements

• MD and/or PhD is required.
• Candidates must conduct research relevant to improving the care of infants and children who are at elevated risk for the development of neuropsychiatric disorders.
• Must have technological experience in neuroscience.
• Must be prepared to harness these technologies to advance knowledge of causal mechanisms in brain and behavioral development and to define potential targets for higher-impact therapies for neuropsychiatric disorders of childhood.
• Must develop an innovative, externally funded research program.
• Residency in the state of GA is required.

Nice To Haves

• Physician-scientists are encouraged to apply.
• Areas of particular interest include in-depth studies of causation, tracing genetic, epigenetic, and/or environmental variation to the developmental processes that govern brain and behavioral maturation.
• Approaches that involve translatable model systems or innovative clinical trials are encouraged.
• Approaches that capitalize on strategic collections of biomaterials, brain imaging or behavioral data from developing children are encouraged.
• Scientific agendas focused on parsimonious developmental mediators of psychiatric conditions are of great interest, including mood dysregulation, the p factor, autism-related variation in reciprocal social behavior, callous-unemotional traits, risk profiles indexed by early childhood temperament, or brain/behavioral sequalae of early emotional trauma.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research relevant to improving the care of infants and children at elevated risk for neuropsychiatric disorders.
• Develop and lead a translational research agenda using neuroscience approaches to study behavior and mental health.
• Harness neuroscience technologies to advance knowledge of causal mechanisms in brain and behavioral development.
• Define potential targets for therapies for childhood neuropsychiatric disorders.
• Trace genetic, epigenetic, and/or environmental variation to developmental processes governing brain and behavioral maturation.
• Utilize translatable model systems or innovative clinical trials.
• Capitalize on collections of biomaterials, brain imaging, or behavioral data from developing children.
• Develop an innovative, externally funded research program.
• Leverage the clinical infrastructure of the Center for Behavioral and Mental Health.
• Collaborate with scientists and technicians within the Children’s Center for Neurosciences Research.

Benefits

• Access to clinical electronic health record data from a large, evolving learning health system for child mental health.
• Highly interactive collegial research environment with state-of-the-art facilities.
• Proximity to and collaborations with the Marcus Autism Center, the Emory National Primate Research Center, and the Grady Trauma Project.
• Opportunity to be part of an ambitious $200M investment to substantially grow the team of world-class child health researchers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree