Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Neuroimaging

Join The Sadhguru Center For A Conscious Planet

When you join the growing BILH team, you're not just taking a job, you're making a difference in people's lives.

ABOUT THE CENTER

Launched in Nov 2020, the Sadhguru Center for a Conscious Planet (SCCP) is a multidisciplinary research center focused on understanding and enhancing human consciousness, cognition and compassion. The Sadhguru Center is based in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (a Harvard teaching hospital). The Center faculty work closely with our colleagues across the Harvard Medical School system. The Center conducts rigorous research, facilitates thoughtful conversations and exploration, and builds awareness through education and community outreach.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Sadhguru Center is looking for a passionate and highly skilled researcher to join our diverse and thriving team. The scientist will have a Harvard Medical School post-doctoral fellow appointment and will work in a large interdisciplinary team in the unique environment of the Beth Israel Medical Deaconess Center and Harvard Medical School system. Examples of ongoing projects are in the area of perioperative cognitive sciences and the effect of mind body intervention (yoga and meditation) on cognition, sleep and brain health. The scientist is expected to contribute to all aspects of the projects in which they are involved. The scientist is also encouraged to come up with projects of their own and develop their area of research focus in alignment with the center's broader mission. As a member of the SCCP team, the scientist will have the opportunity to:

• Receive mentorship from the SCCP's senior faculty, illustrious Scientific Advisory Board members and collaborative network
• Dedicate effort and use SCCP, BIDMC and HMS resources towards their professional career development and potentially transition to a faculty position at HMS under SCCP
• Have access to a wide range of subject populations (clinical, healthy, meditators) to conduct robust studies exploring consciousness, cognition and wellbeing in various settings
• Be a part of the core team at the early stage of SCCP and contribute to the center's direction and growth, especially in the area of cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
• Contribute to the educational and outreach activities of SCCP and expand their experience, expertise and network beyond academic research
• Enhance their mentorship skills by mentoring research assistants and student interns at SCCP

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• PhD in related fields such as cognitive neuroscience or other relevant fields
• Track record of experiment design, data collection, analysis, publication, and communicating scientific results
• Verifiable programming skills in MATLAB, Python, R or similar language. The ability to program experiments in Psychotoolbox, Psychopy or similar stimulus presentation toolboxes for behavioral, fMRI and EEG studies is essential
• Demonstrable clarity in communication
• Ability to take initiative and work both individually and part of collaborative teams
• Ability to proactively seek out help for solving interdisciplinary problems

Encouraged:

• Familiarity with research in consciousness, yoga, meditation, mindfulness and other mind-body interventions
• Experience with neuroimaging modalities such as MRI, fMRI, EEG, MEG and analyses of fMRI and M/EEG data
• Clinical or Theoretical research experience in areas such as sleep, stress, cognitive disorders
• Experience with grant and research proposal writing
• Presenting and interacting with researchers in broad multi-disciplinary groups
• Experience mentoring research assistants and students

JOB DESCRIPTION

Essential Responsibilities:

1. Abides by the institutional policies of BIDMC relating to health and safety, equality of opportunity and data storage and management.
2. As a member of the research team, actively pursues research under the supervision of a principle investigator while developing skills for independent work.
3. Receives training in and performs duties contributing to the investigational work of the team including formulation of research questions and design, conduct of experiments, and evaluation of results.
4. Prepares and publishes scientific manuscripts under direction of PI.
5. Develops expertise in desired lab skills/informatics/ physics/clinical research. Develops proficiency with research tools and equipment. Develops ability to work with more independence as the fellowship progresses

Required Qualifications:

1. Doctoral degree required.
2. 0-1 years related work experience required.
3. Ability to produce complex documents, perform analysis and maintain databases. Prior experience reviewing, analyzing, and summarizing scientific literature.
4. Excellent attention to detail and interpersonal, organizational, writing, and project management skills.
5. Strong organizational and data management skills.
6. Advanced technical computer skills as required for technical support specific to functional area and related systems.

Competencies:

1. Decision Making: Ability to make decisions that are guided by general instructions and practices requiring some interpretation. May make recommendations for solving problems of moderate complexity and importance.
2. Problem Solving: Ability to address problems that are varied, requiring analysis or interpretation of the situation using direct observation, knowledge and skills based on general precedents.
3. Independence of Action: Ability to follow precedents and procedures. May set priorities and organize work within general guidelines. Seeks assistance when confronted with difficult and/or unpredictable situations. Work progress is monitored by supervisor/manager.
4. Written Communications: Ability to summarize and communicate in English moderately complex information in varied written formats to internal and external customers.
5. Oral Communications: Ability to comprehend and communicate complex verbal information in English to medical center staff, patients, families and external customers.
6. Knowledge: Ability to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of concepts, practices and policies with the ability to use them in complex varied situations.
7. Team Work: Ability to lead collaborative teams for larger projects or groups both internal and external to the Medical Center and across functional areas. Results have implications for the management and operations of multiple areas of the organization.
8. Customer Service: Ability to provide a high level of customer service and staff training to meet customer service standards and expectations for the assigned unit(s). Resolves service issues in the assigned unit(s) in a timely and respectful manner.

Physical Nature of the Job: Light work: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force frequently to move objects. Some elements of the job are sedentary, but the employee will be required to stand for periods of time or move through out the hospital campus

Beth Israel Lahey Health Vaccination Policy

As a health care organization, we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to care for and protect our patients, our colleagues and our communities. Beth Israel Lahey Health requires that all staff be vaccinated against influenza (flu) and COVID-19 as a condition of employment.