The Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences seeks a Postdoctoral candidate interested in dissecting the neuronal circuits and mechanisms underlying the impact of pain on motivated behaviors and drug seeking. Under the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Catherine Cahill and working closely with other postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, undergraduate students, research associates, and collaborators, the postdoctoral scholar will be engaged in cutting-edge research with the goal of understanding the intersection between pain and addiction. The postdoctoral scholar will participate in behavioral neuroscience research throughout the training period by using operant tasks for self-administration with photometry and neurochemical detection to study the impact of chronic pain on opioid drug seeking. The Cahill laboratory integrates the study of cellular changes induced by drugs of abuse and pain using a combination of state-of-art behavioral models integrating optogenetics and chemogenetics approaches. For more details, see lab web page: https://www.semel.ucla.edu/cahill-lab.
Candidates are expected to have a PhD in neuroscience, pharmacology, biomedical sciences or other relevant training prior to starting. They should have a reasonable record of publication and be highly motivated and able to conduct independent research. The successful candidate should be willing to collaborate with the groups within the Hatos Center for Neuropharmacology and the Integrative Center for Addiction. A candidate with experience in rodent behavior and photometry or neurochemical detection is encouraged to apply.
Located in an urban setting, UCLA is California’s largest university with a diverse student body of 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students, approximately 25% that come from underrepresented minority groups. As a campus with a continually growing diverse student body, we encourage applications from women, minorities, and individuals with a commitment to the success of underrepresented groups in behavioral science.
Interested candidates should provide a cover letter and forward their CV and names of 3 references to:
Catherine Cahill, PhD
Professor
Hatos Center for Neuropharmacology
Department Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
cmcahill@ucla.edu