Neuroimaging and AD Biomarker Postdoc

The Betthauser Neuroimaging Lab, located within the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, has an opening for a highly qualified postdoctoral candidate to work with Dr. Tobey Betthauser. Dr. Betthauser is the principal lab investigator for NIH-funded studies and leads the Imaging Core for the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (WADRC). Dr. Betthauser’s research encompasses the development and application of novel temporal modeling methods for neuroimaging and biofluid biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease), multicohort study of factors that influence the timing of biomarker and clinical progression, generation of time-based dementia risk models, and postmortem brain pathological correlates of antemortem biomarkers and clinical trajectories using ex vivo MRI and quantitative pathology.

The university is seeking a postdoctoral trainee with a strong publication record and experience analyzing neuroimaging and biofluid biomarkers in the context of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The postdoc will work under the supervision of Dr. Betthauser and will work on NIH-funded projects developing and applying temporal modeling methods and analyzing neuroimaging, biofluid biomarkers, cognitive assessments, demographics, genetics, and associated data, to understand the timing of disease processes, the factors that contribute to when disease begins, and how this timing relates to clinical symptoms and postmortem confirmation of brain pathology.

Responsibilities include conducting data curation, summary, processing, and analysis; publishing research findings in peer-reviewed manuscripts, writing and revising conference abstracts, and presenting research findings at local, national, and international events and conferences; and providing scientific support to lab staff and students, including mentorship of graduate and undergraduate student trainees with Dr. Betthauser.

Candidates should hold a Ph.D. in neuroscience, medical physics, psychology, biostatistics, or other related fields. The candidate should demonstrate strong motivation, excellent communication skills, a self‑directed approach to learning, and the ability to thrive within a collaborative team environment. A strong publication record, including at least three first-author peer-reviewed publications with demonstrated research experience in data processing and analysis of neuroimaging or other biomarker data, is required.

Essential qualifications include expertise in MRI and/or PET analyses, advanced programming skills (i.e., MATLAB, Python), and experience with development of statistical analysis plans, creating data visualizations, and conducting statistical analyses (such as descriptive statistics, survival analyses, regression models, linear-mixed-effects models, non-parametric methods). Experience working with aging and dementia research and/or neuropsychology is strongly preferred but not required. Our research group values team science, a positive work environment, and a diversity of backgrounds, approaches, and competencies of co-workers and the populations the university serves.