Postdoctoral Scholar - Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics

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Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

This is a term position; length of the term will be discussed during the interview process. Continuation past the term length discussed will be based on university need, performance, and/or availability of funding.

The Grigson lab at Penn State University College of Medicine in Hershey, PA is looking for a highly motivated postdoc who is willing to embrace new approaches to important questions in neuroscience.

We have multiple NIH‑funded projects to study the influence of FDA‑approved GLP‑1R agonists on drug seeking and reinstatement in rodents. A newly funded NIH R01 has the goal to determine who may be vulnerable to developing substance use disorders, when, how, why, and what might be done about it. Here, we will use the aversive behavioral and neurochemical response to the intraoral (IO) delivery of a drug‑paired taste cue (i.e., conditioned withdrawal) to track the development of addiction in the most vulnerable male and female rats and to test the hypothesis that engagement of, not only reward substrates, but also homeostatic need substrates, contributes to the catastrophic transition from liking and wanting drug to needing drug early in the development of the disease.

Techniques that will be used in this project include intraoral catheter fluid delivery, video monitoring of facial responses (i.e., gapes), operant conditioning (Med Associates), telemetry for anterior digastric muscle activation (DSI, Harvard), and in vivo fiber photometry (TDT).

We are particularly looking for a PhD‑level systems neuroscientist with expertise in animal behavior tracking using deep learning algorithms and their causal link with specific neural circuits. Expertise in circuit manipulation (e.g., optogenetics, chemo genetics) and/or recording (e.g., fiber photometry) is highly desirable. However, candidates with other experimental and/or data skills are welcome to apply. Experience in computer programming (e.g., Matlab, Python) and neuroinformatics tools is a plus but not required.

Previous work with rats and basic surgical experience is strongly recommended.

We aim to build a strong research team with complementary expertise. Furthermore, we have several ongoing projects that bring different expertise and provide ample opportunities to publish with leading experts in different fields of neuroscience.

Eligible candidates should send a CV including the names of three professional references and a brief statement of research and career plan with technical skills.

Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.

Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full‑time employees designed to support both personal and professional well‑being.

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