Website The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Neuroscience of Addiction is available in the laboratory of Dr. Clyde Hodge in the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies within the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
POSITION OVERVIEW – Our multidisciplinary preclinical research is based on the concept that drugs of abuse gain control over behavior by modulating molecular mechanisms of neuroplasticity within brain reward circuits. We utilize state-of-the-art behavioral methods combined with a variety of molecular, genetic, and pharmacological approaches to evaluate neural mechanisms of alcohol self-administration and co-morbid neuropsychiatric conditions including cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression. The lab and university culture are collaborative, dynamic, innovative, and team-based.
We seek applications from individuals who share our interest in understanding how alcohol hijacks reward pathways to produce addiction with the goal of translating this information into potential pharmacological therapeutics.
OPPORTUNITY – This specific opportunity is to participate in an NIH funded preclinical research project designed to increase understanding the molecular mechanisms that drive escalated operant alcohol self-administration associate with dependence. These studies in mice will offer specific opportunities in rigorous behavioral analysis (operant alcohol self-administration, locomotor, anxiety, and cognitive testing) combined with measurement of protein and gene expression (Western blots, immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR) and cutting-edge evaluation of neural mechanisms of behavior (brain site-specific pharmacology, knockout mice, AAV, and/or CRISPR gene editing, and in vivo photometry approaches). Fellows receive mentored training in grant writing and are encouraged to apply for NIH funding via F32 and/or K-award mechanisms.
IDEAL CANDIDATE – The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. in neuroscience or behavioral science with an interest in gaining the research training and skills required to develop into an independent investigator with a focus on evaluating brain behavior relations in alcohol addiction in preclinical models.
To apply, please send a letter of research interests, CV, and the names of 3 references to Dr. Clyde W. Hodge (chodge@med.unc.edu).
Learn more about our lab at: https://hodgelab.web.unc.edu/.
To apply for this job email your details to chodge@med.unc.edu