Postdoctoral Scientist - Gulati Lab - Center for Neural Science & Medicine

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center • West Hollywood, CA

53d • Onsite

About The Position

The Gulati Laboratory is a systems neuroscience laboratory focused on understanding the motor basis of behavior. The lab utilizes cortical and spinal electrophysiology to investigate the neural basis of motor control and learning, as well as sleep-related consolidation of motor skills. Additionally, the lab explores novel neuroengineering strategies for repair and functional recovery after brain and spinal cord injuries, including the development of spinal/cortical motor prostheses, brain-machine interfaces, and neurorobotics. This postdoctoral position, under the mentorship of Dr. Tanuj Gulati in the Center for Neural Science and Medicine (CNSM) within the Department of Biomedical Sciences (BMS), will involve cutting-edge research aimed at understanding stroke recovery and developing rehabilitation therapies in preclinical rodent stroke models. The role requires close collaboration with other researchers and trainees.

Requirements

• Doctorate (MD, PhD, VMD, or DDS) in an area directly related to the field of research specialization.
• Acquires thorough technical and theoretical knowledge of research project and objectives during one to five (1-5) year post-doctoral appointment.
• Works independently on research projects designed by a mentor (typically the PI) within the area of specialization.
• Previous experience with rodent surgeries and animal intracranial electrophysiology is required.
• Proven ability to conduct rodent procedures as evidenced by first author publications is required.
• Demonstrated aptitude to perform experimental protocols and procedures, including detailed data collection, analysis, operation, and maintenance of specialized equipment.
• Function efficiently and cooperatively with a team of faculty, research associates, technicians, and students.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills are essential.
• Knowledge of safety standards and maintenance of specialized equipment.

Responsibilities

• Performing rodent procedures such as rodent stroke surgeries, viral injections, and neural implant procedures for recording and stimulating neural activity.
• Developing new rodent stroke models (endothelin injections) and implementing simultaneous neurophysiological recordings with stroke injury in awake behaving rodents.
• Participating in data analysis and interpretation.
• Assisting in the preparation of grant proposals.
• Participating in publications and presentations as an author or co-author.
• Designing and performing experiments.
• Keeping appropriate experimental records and documentation and analyzing the results with the Principal Investigator.
• Analyzing, interpreting, summarizing, and compiling data.
• Performing routine and complex laboratory procedures.
• Operating and maintaining equipment and instruments.
• Observing MD-patient or MD-human research subject interactions as it pertains directly to research being performed.
• Conducting multi-site electrophysiological recordings across motor cortex and cerebellum in rodent models using Neuropixels and TDT electrophysiology workstations.
• Designing and executing closed-loop stimulation and brain-machine interface experiments to investigate cerebellar neuromodulation approaches for stroke recovery.
• Performing spike- and LFP-based data analyses to characterize cortico-cerebellar dynamics during motor learning, consolidation, and post-stroke recovery.
• Investigating sleep-dependent mechanisms of motor skill consolidation and their disruption after cerebellar/cortical injury.
• Contributing to manuscript preparation and dissemination of findings related to motor systems neuroscience and neural engineering.
• Assisting in mentoring and supervising junior trainees (interns, graduate students) on experimental and analytical techniques within the lab.

What This Job Offers

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