Job Openings

 

Junior Specialist - Clinical Coordinator for a Study of Sex-effects and Reward on Cognition in Schizophrenia (Carter & Lesh Labs)

The Translational Cognitive and Affective (TCAN) Laboratory studies the neural mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction in psychotic illness. This position is to serve a multi-faceted role as a study coordinator for a NIH-funded Conte Center research study under the direction of Dr. Cameron Carter and Dr. Tyler Lesh. This research study focuses on how sex differences and alterations in the immune system might play a role in altered brain activity and connectivity in individuals with schizophrenia. Our project will use computational model based analyses of frontal-stiatal circuitry during fMRI to provide a more mechanistic understanding of motivation and cognitive control deficits in schizophrenia. Diffusion MRI measures of extracellular free water and midbrain neuromelanin scans will offer additional insight into the role of neuroinflammation and dopamine disruption in the disorder. We collect a rich set of symptom and life history information using clinical interviews to examine how these biological measures relate to real-life behavior and functioning.

These projects utilize a combination of extensive clinical interviews and surveys along with multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine high-level cognitive processing in both healthy adults and in individuals with schizophrenia. As such, this position will provide the opportunity to gain strong expertise in clinical interviewing, differential diagnosis of mental health disorders, and training in a variety of cognitive neuroscience data collection techniques. Office will be located at the UC Davis Imaging Research Center, in Sacramento, CA.

Position should be live on recruit.ucdavis.edu by early April, 2024 with a planned start date in June, 2024.