Research Associate - Neurosurgery, fMRI, Neuroimaging

Full Time nonexempt position in Neurosurgery, Neuroimaging, located in the Texas Medical Center, at 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, Texas 77030.  Bring your Biomedical Engineering, and/or Neuroscience background to this role, where you will analyze both patient and nonpatient, functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRi, data. 

The role requires various abilities to work independently and as part of various multidisciplinary teams. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are essential. The successful candidate will work with various collaborative and innovative research teams consisting of scientists, engineers, and clinicians in the fields of cognitive neuroscience, MR physics, neurology and neurosurgery. The lab currently collaborates with various teams in Siemens, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, University of Southern California, and Max Planck Institute at Tubingen (Germany). The lab has immediate access to two top-of-the-line Siemens Prisma 3T scanners, as well as a Siemens Terra 7T scanner at Methodist Hospital (the first 7T human scanner in Texas). Computational work makes use of a local cluster of high-performance compute and file servers owned exclusively by our lab.

·       Designs, executes, and analyzes fMRI experiments that investigate the physics and physiology of brain function for project goals.

·       Develops appropriate stimuli for experiments using tools, such as the psychophysics toolbox.

·       Configures protocols on local MRI scanners.

·       Recruits and scans subjects, then analyze results

 What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’ resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That’s where you come in.

Once you join us you won't want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:  

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees  
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year) 
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue! 
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service) 
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan! 

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ wellbeing is important to us. We offer work/life services such as... 

• Free financial and legal counseling 
• Free mental health counseling services 
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs 
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc. 
• Resources for child and elder care 
• Plus many more! 

Position Summary:

Plans, conducts, and directs a wide variety of experiments. Assists with the day-to-day activities for research project(s) and may impact the success of the research project(s).

 

Position Key Accountabilities:

Collects, evaluates, interprets, and documents research data to accomplish the objectives of a wide variety of scientific experiments and research projects.

Influences project direction and outcomes by identifying opportunities to enhance, terminate, or re-direct research activities.

May recruit study participants or field interviewers.

Evaluates and interprets data and provides results to investigators to support publication.

Maintains quality control checks and a safe environment in compliance with all governmental and University policies, rules, regulation and codes.

Assists in the preparation and writing of research reports, manuscripts, papers and grant proposals for presentation and publication.

Provides direction and training to lab personnel to ensure efficient, timely and high quality results in compliance with all protocols, guidelines, regulations, etc.

Performs other duties as assigned.

 

Mandatory Experiences and Skills:

·       Strong fMRI experience is required.

·       High proficiency of MRI data analysis such as AFNI, FSL, SPM, and Freesurfer is required.

·       Strong coding ability for image processing in Matlab is required.

·       Proficient in Microsoft Office for publication and grant writing

Additional Experiences:

·       Basic understanding of MR pulse sequences and MRI physics is also desirable.

·       Following skills is a plus.

o    Experience of the finite-difference method (FDM) and finite-volume method (FVM) analysis

o   Background of computational modeling of biological system

·       Background of computational modeling of biological system is a plus.

Strong prefernece for Phd. 

Certification/Skills: 

Considerable knowledge in basic and sophisticated equipment.

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in a related field with three (3) years of related research experience including experience in a lead research role; or
Master’s degree in a related field with one (1) year of related research experience including experience in a lead research role; or
Doctorate degree.