The Postdoctoral Scholar will be working in the Youth Emotions, Thoughts, and Interactions Lab (YETI Lab; yetilab.pitt.edu) with the PI, Dr. Leslie Horton, housed in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The YETI Lab examines psychosis risk in adolescents and young adults using methods that include cardiovascular psychophysiology, clinical interviews, computer tasks, and ecological momentary/ambulatory assessment. A 2-year minimum commitment is required; the start date is flexible. The successful applicant will be expected to split their time between developing their own program of research and taking a leadership role on NIMH-funded research studies examining psychosis risk : 1) An R01 Project, the YETI Phone Study (R01 MH121386) examining threat dysregulation (TD) as a contributor to social impairment and psychotic-like experiences in adolescents at-risk for psychosis; 2) A U01 project, the ProNET study (MH124639), a multi-site, international collaboration examining biomarkers of risk for psychosis using methods that include clinical and cognitive measures, fluid biomarkers, EEG, and fMRI (more information about both grants can be found at https://reporter.nih.gov/). Responsibilities could include collecting, processing, and analyzing ambulatory, psychophysiology, and other data; conducting and supervising clinical interviews and assessments with participants; writing manuscripts and conference presentations; and mentoring more junior lab members and students. Additional opportunities will be available to pursue data analysis and manuscript-writing using existing data; and to become involved in the development of other new research projects and grant proposals. Although this position primarily focused on research, qualified clinician candidates may have the opportunity to devote up to ½ day per week providing clinical services as part of the Hope Team, a clinic serving youth ages 10-26 who are at risk for psychosis (www.hopeteam.pitt.edu). This position provides the opportunity to work and learn in an outstanding and collaborative research environment. The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh boasts a wealth of training and career development resources for postdoctoral researchers (https://www.psychiatry.pitt.edu/research/research-training/post-doctoral-training), including the Career and Research Development Seminar. This weekly seminar series is designed to enhance postdoctoral trainees’ grantsmanship, professional competence, and skills for launching an independent research career.

Qualifications or Expectations:

• (preferred): Experience collecting, cleaning, and/or analyzing ambulatory assessment and/or cardiovascular psychophysiology data
• (preferred): Programming skills
• A promising research publication record.
• Active interest in researching psychosis risk, ambulatory assessment of stress and behavior, stress/ threat processing, mental health assessment and/or treatment, and/or cardiovascular psychophysiology.
• Interest in committing a minimum of 2 years to the position.
• PhD or MD with a background in psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science or a related discipline.
• Solid working knowledge of basic and complex statistical analyses required, and knowledge of statistics for intensive longitudinal data preferred
• Strong written and verbal presentation skills.

Opportunities Available:

• Attending professional meetings;
• Career development and grant-writing resources;
• Clinical hours and supervision, if desired
• Opportunities to present/ publish results;
• Support for obtaining independent funding;

Duties or Responsibilities:

• Collecting, processing, and analyzing ambulatory, psychophysiology, and other data
• Conducting and supervising clinical interviews and laboratory assessments with participants
• Developing independent program of research
• Mentoring more junior lab members and students
• Writing manuscripts and conducting professional presentations

For more info about this position, visit:https://www.yetilab.pitt.edu

Application Instructions:

Visit join.pitt.edu and View Requisition Number 23001236 to apply.