Postdoctoral Scholar(s) Opportunity

The University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine is looking for highly motivated post-doctoral scholar(s) to better understand the mechanisms mediating adolescent drug use. Our primary interests focus on the effects of developmental nicotine exposure but we also assess how this exposure can influence other drug use. The scholar will lead projects using innovative pharmacological, behavioral, molecular genetic, neurochemistry, and/or brain imaging tools in order to discover underlying mechanisms.

We hope the discoveries would provide additional avenues for the development of prevention and intervention strategies for the reduction of substance use behavior, particularly during unique developmental time point of adolescence. Findings could have important public health impacts, particularly for disadvantaged communities who are reported to have higher prevalence rates of tobacco and other drug addictions. The project will provide the post-doctoral scholar with interactive bench-to-bedside translational research, to study how simple molecules and complex environments interact to influence the brain and behavior, using animal models of addiction.

Minimum qualifications:
Required Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in the fields of or equivalent to psychology, molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, neurobiology and behavior, with a focus on drug addiction research.

Other considerations:
Strong analytic skills and outstanding individual initiative.
Strong skills in data acquisition, data management and analysis, including experience using standard statistical packages.
Excellent scientific writing and spoken English skills.
Preference is given to applicants whose training and research interests align with identifying the mechanisms of adolescent nicotine/tobacco and/or other drug addictions.
Experience in grant writing, brain imaging, in vivo microdialysis-HPLC-ECD, and/or animal behavior is preferred.

Anticipated salary range:
http://www.ap.uci.edu/salary/currentscales/postdoc.pdf

Interested candidates should contact: Shahrdad@uci.edu

The University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.