Postdoctoral Research Associate – Anesthesiology Full-time NEW

Postdoctoral Fellow Position

The Norris Lab at WashU Medicine is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to join our dynamic research team housed in the Department of Anesthesiology. Our lab seeks to understand neural circuits governing stress responses, coping behaviors, sleep-arousal regulation, and metabolism. A major focus of our current research is delineating how specific neuronal populations within the supramammillary nucleus hypothalamus control active versus passive coping responses to stressors towards understanding psychiatric resilience and identifying novel therapeutic targets for mood and anxiety disorders.

Our research leverages multiple complementary approaches: in vivo fiber photometry and optogenetic manipulation during behavioral paradigms to measure and perturb neural circuit activity during stress exposure; multi-fiber photometry recording to simultaneously track activity across interconnected brain regions; behavioral neuroscience paradigms (e.g., forced swim test, active avoidance, social stress) to quantify active vs. passive coping.

This project is funded by a grant from the NIH. The successful candidate will drive independent and collaborative research projects. We value scientific excellence, rigorous methodology, open communication, professionalism, and collaborative spirit.

Primary duties and responsibilities include:

• Assists with grant preparation and reporting.
• Prepares and submits papers on research.
• Assists in the design of research experiments.
• Evaluates research findings and assists in the reporting of the results.
• Conscientious discharge of their research responsibilities.
• Maintains conformity with ethical standards in research.
• Maintains compliance with good laboratory practice including the maintenance of adequate research records.
• Engages in open and timely discussion with their mentor regarding possession or distribution of material, reagents, or records belonging to their laboratory and any proposed disclosure of findings or techniques privately or in publications.
• Collegial conduct towards co-trainees, staff members and members of the research group.
• Adherence to all applicable University policies, procedures and regulations. All data, research records and materials and other intellectual property generated in University laboratories remain the property of the University.

Working conditions include a laboratory environment with potential exposure to biological and chemical hazards. The individual must be physically able to wear protective equipment and to provide standard care to research animals.

Salary range is base pay commensurate with experience.

To apply, email a single PDF file consisting of a letter of interest, a CV, and names of three potential referees to Dr. Aaron J. Norris at norrisa@wustl.edu with the subject line “Postdoctoral Fellow Application.”

Postdoctoral appointments have a 5-year term limit that includes previous experience.

Preferred qualifications include collaboration, data analysis, data interpretations, experimentation, laboratory operations, laboratory techniques, researching, results reporting, and scientific writing.