Postdoctoral Scholar
The UCSF Memory and Aging Center, under the supervision of Dr. Boon Lead Tee and Dr. Jessica de Leon, has (1) open postdoctoral position focusing on approaches for integrating structural and functional brain MRI data, connected speech, behavior, and genetics to investigate the effects of bilingualism on cognitive and brain reserve/resilience.
Job Summary
The selected candidate will participate in projects that focus on establishing MRI protocols with cuttingedge methodologies and applying advanced neuroimaging techniques, such as structural and functional MRI, tractography, graph theory analysis, and machine learning algorithms to a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), primary progressive aphasia (PPA), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), in the context of diverse populations, bilingualism, and cross-linguistic studies. The candidate will have the opportunity to be involved in a translational research project, work closely with the current members of the team, and contribute to our empirical efforts to further our understanding of the neurobiology of language.
Laboratory Description
The mission of the de Leon Lab is to better understand how bilingualism influences the trajectory of healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment, and a range of neurodegenerative diseases, including PPA, FTD, and Alzheimer’s dementia. We also study how language typology can impact findings on cognitive tasks. The goal of our lab is to improve dementia care for people with diverse language backgrounds. Our multidisciplinary team correlates behavioral research with multimodal neuroimaging techniques to understand the neural underpinning of speech and language. The mission of the Tee Lab is to encourage equal representation from diverse populations worldwide in cognitive and dementia research, which would greatly enhance our neuroscientific understanding to brain aging and neurodegenerative diseases. The Tee Lab aims to address current calls for culturally and linguistically appropriate cognitive assessment tests, stimulate the development of novel tests for syndromic differentiation in different languages, and enhance our understanding to various neural mechanism by promoting language diversity in cognitive research.
Department Description
The UCSF Department of Neurology brings together world-class researchers and physicians to solve some of the most complex challenges in the human brain. The Department’s mission is to deliver superb patient care, to apply state-of-the-art translational research methods to discover the causes of and treatments for human nervous system disorders, and to educate each generation of medical students, neurology residents, and postdoctoral fellows. By fostering cross-disciplinary interactions among scientists around the world, we accelerate the pace of discovery and champion the University's global health initiatives. Required qualifications: • Ph.D. in a related science area such as neurology, radiology, cognitive neuroscience, biomedical engineering, or a related discipline. • Previous work experience with MRI and/or PET data collection and analysis. • Familiarity with existing neuroimaging tools such as SPM, Freesurfer, AFNI, FSL • Familiarity with at least one programming or scripting languages such as Matlab, Python, and R. • Strong writing skills demonstrated by peer-reviewed publications. • Ability to work in a fast-paced, team-based environment. Preferred qualifications: • Familiarity and experience with any of the following will be a plus: connectomics, tractography, functional MRI, MRI data harmonization, bilingualism and cross-linguistic studies, and dementia studies • Experience with bioinformatics, biostatistics, and/or machine learning. • Proficiency in Spanish, Tagalog (Filipino), Mandarin, and/or Cantonese.
To apply, please send a cover letter describing interests and relevant prior experience, a CV, and 3 names of potential references to [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]