Job Title Neurobiology- Postdoctoral Scholar Department Name 392600000

Neurobiology School/College:

Academic Joint Departments Job Description The main goal of our research is to identify the neural circuits controlling motivated behaviors, primarily those controlling drug seeking. We are especially interested in understanding how these circuits change as the animal takes more and more drug over time, and how these changes alter the ability of drug-associated cues to trigger relapse. We are also interested in circuits controlling the inhibition of learned behaviors and the active suppression of motivational impulses. Using preclinical self-administration models of addiction (substance use disorder), we have discovered the infralimbic prefrontal cortex is a key component of the neural circuitry responsible for inhibiting drug seeking. Much of our work focuses on neuroanatomical inputs and outputs to/from this brain region. We use optogenetic and chemogenetic viral strategies to manipulate neuronal activity within defined neural pathways and cell types and fiber photometry to record neuronal population activity with calcium sensors (GCaMP, RCaMP) in vivo during behavioral tasks. In addition to these techniques, the lab also routinely uses immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy to visualize and image the neurons we manipulate, as well as perform neuroanatomical tracing and Fos expression analyses (Fos = a biochemical marker for neuronal activation). Required Qualifications PhD in a biological science

Open Date:

08/28/2026

Open Until Filled:

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