Postdoctoral Fellow (NLM & NIMH)

The National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Mental Health are part of the National Institutes of Health 27 institutes located on the Bethesda campus. NLM is the world’s largest biomedical library and a leader in biomedical informatics and health information technology research, development, and scientific training. The NIMH is the lead federal agency for research on mental illnesses, who's mission is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, thus paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure.

This postdoctoral fellowship is co-hosted by the Zhang lab at NLM and the Human Brain Collection Core, directed by Dr. Marenco, of the NIMH. The mission of the HBCC is to conduct and support research on the molecular and histological correlates of mental illness. The Zhang lab is interested in the application of novel computational methods based on machine learning and advanced biostatistics and statistics techniques to analyze large-scale multi-omics single cell data from human and other species. In effect, our lab works to identify data-driven biomarkers for disease diagnostics and therapeutics.

The collaboration between HBCC and Zhang labs focuses on advancing the understanding and characterization of diverse neuronal and non-neuronal cell types in the human brain and their role in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. We utilize various genetic, single cell genomics and spatial transcriptomics approaches.

We are now looking for a highly motivated Postdoctoral Fellow to work as part of this exciting cross-disciplinary collaboration. This fellowship provides the unique opportunity to deepen the knowledge of neuroscience and enhance computational pipelines for complex data.

Specific tasks and responsibilities of this position include:

• Building computational pipelines following best practices of single-cell data analysis.
• Leading data analysis to investigate key biological questions in psychiatric disorders.
• Supporting experimental design for case-control studies and for the integration of data across large datasets with heterogeneous methodology.
• Developing innovative solutions to address analytical challenges with statistically rigorous metrics and methods.
• Collaborating with internal and external collaborators as well as domain experts on larger collaborative projects.
• Communicating experimental, data analysis, and biological findings to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Keeping up to date with the latest literature of related domains.

This is a full-time postdoctoral fellow position, with an initial appointment of one year. This position is then renewable on a yearly basis, with extensions up to 5 years total. The NIH offers a competitive salary and comprehensive health insurance. The NIH is dedicated to the continued education and career development of all its research staff. Additional information about NIH postdoctoral fellowships can be found here.

Prospective candidates must possess a doctorate degree in neuroscience, computational biology, or related biomedical field. Experience in high dimensional data analysis, statistical inference, and both supervised and unsupervised machine learning is highly encouraged. Programming proficiency in Python and R, and a working knowledge of Linux system and high-performance computing (HPC) is required. A demonstrated ability to generate and pursue independent research ideas, as well as a familiarity with basic psychiatric nosology, behavioral neurobiology, or a related field is a plus. Excellent interpersonal skills, including oral and written communication, and the ability to work within multidisciplinary groups is also required.

Candidates are subject to a background investigation. U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply. NIH welcomes foreign nationals with the exception of individuals from this list.