Postdoctoral Fellow in Developmental Psychophysiology and Digital Health

Indiana University Indianapolis

IU Institute for Human Health and Wellbeing (H2W)

The Kelleher Lab

The Kelleher Lab at the IU Institute for Human Health and Wellbeing (H2W) and the Departments of Psychology and Community & Global Health at Indiana University Indianapolis invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow position focused on developmental psychophysiology, digital health, and neurodevelopmental assessment. The position is available immediately and is supported through multiple NIH-funded research projects.

The successful candidate will contribute to two NIH-funded research programs examining early development in children with rare and complex health conditions.

The first is
Project Semear
, a long-standing international collaboration focused on developmental outcomes among children with congenital Zika syndrome. Project Semear is conducted in partnership with Fundação Altino Ventura in Recife, Brazil, as well as collaborators at RTI International, Indiana University Indianapolis, and Purdue University.

The second is the
PANDABox (Primary Caregiver-Assisted Neuro Developmental Assessment) Project
, an NIH-funded telehealth platform developed by the Kelleher Lab to study early development among infants and young children with rare neurodevelopmental and neurogenetic conditions. Current work focuses on developmental trajectories in children with Down syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Williams syndrome, and related rare conditions. This project also aims to optimize digital outcome measures for clinical trials relevant to these conditions.

The primary focus of the position is the processing, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of behavioral and cardiac indicators of attention during early development. The fellow will lead analyses of heart rate and related psycho-physiological measures while integrating these data with behavioral coding and standardized developmental assessments.

A unique feature of this position is access to approximately ten years of existing developmental, behavioral, and psycho-physiological datasets that are immediately available for secondary analysis and publication, providing an exceptional foundation for building an independent publication record.

The Kelleher Lab develops and validates innovative digital health technologies designed to improve assessment and intervention for children with neurodevelopmental conditions and their families. Current projects incorporate telehealth-based developmental assessments, behavioral coding, psycho-physiological monitoring, digital phenotyping, and caregiver-centered digital health interventions.

The fellow will collaborate with investigators across psychology, public health, developmental science, pediatrics, and digital health while helping advance innovative approaches for understanding child development in naturalistic settings. The lab is committed to open science, interdisciplinary collaboration, and training the next generation of clinical and translational scientists.

The fellow will:

• Lead processing and analysis of behavioral and cardiac indicators of attention.
• Develop and oversee behavioral coding pipelines for developmental and clinical assessments.
• Integrate behavioral, psycho-physiological, developmental, and clinical data across studies.
• Lead manuscript preparation and dissemination activities using both newly collected and archival datasets.
• Serve as first author and co-author on peer-reviewed publications.
• Present findings at national and international conferences.
• Mentor graduate and undergraduate trainees involved in coding, data processing, and analysis.
• Contribute to preparation of grant applications, progress reports, and other research-development activities.
• Participate in development of future NIH proposals and other extramural funding opportunities.

• PhD in Psychology, Neuroscience, Developmental Science, Public Health, Human Development, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong quantitative and statistical skills.
• Demonstrated record of scientific writing and publication.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively in interdisciplinary research teams.

Applicants with experience in one or more of the following areas are especially encouraged to apply:

• Behavioral coding of developmental or clinical assessments
• Developmental psychophysiology
• Heart rate and related cardiac indicators of attention and regulation
• Early childhood development
• Neurodevelopmental disabilities and rare genetic conditions
• Longitudinal developmental research
• Quantitative data analysis using R, Python, MATLAB, or related software

Preference will be given to candidates interested in integrating behavioral and psycho-physiological approaches to understanding early development.

The Kelleher Lab is committed to supporting the fellow's long-term career goals. In addition to…