Research Scientist I

Job Title: Research Scientist I

Grade: 18

Salary: $67,552 - $81,257

The Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene is seeking a qualified candidate to fill a full-time position of Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The role of this Research Scientist will be to perform research in a systems neuroscience laboratory investigating how early-life adversity produces lasting changes in reward processing, and the ventral pallidal-accumbal circuit mechanisms that underlie them. The laboratory combines developmental stress models in mice with quantitative behavioral assays of reward sensitivity, in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetic circuit manipulation, viral tracing, and computational analysis, with the goal of identifying the circuit changes that link early adversity to motivational and affective dysfunction in psychiatric illness. This is a 100% full-time position.

Duties and Responsibilities:

This research uses mice to study how early-life adversity alters reward circuitry and motivated behavior. Duties may include:

• Designing and running longitudinal behavioral experiments, including developmental stress paradigms and reward-sensitivity assays
• Performing stereotaxic surgery, viral vector delivery, and implantation of optical fibers and recording devices, with recovery care
• Breeding and maintaining transgenic mouse colonies, including genotyping and records
• Conducting in vivo optogenetic, fiber photometry and electrophysiological experiments in awake behaving mice
• Performing histology, immunohistochemistry, whole-brain activity mapping, microscopy and atlas registration
• Building analysis pipelines for behavioral, imaging and electrophysiological data in Python, R or MATLAB
• Preparing figures and text for manuscripts, grants and progress reports; presenting at lab meetings and conferences
• Supervising and training research technicians, undergraduate students and PhD students, including day-to-day direction of their experimental work
• Maintaining IACUC and safety compliance and accurate experimental records
• Occasional evening or weekend work is required for animal care and experimental timelines.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree and (2) years of professional research experience in an appropriate field or master's degree in an appropriate field may substitute for one year of experience or a Ph.D.

Preferred Qualifications:

Preference may be given for some combination of the following; not all are expected.

• (2) years min: Doctoral training in neuroscience or a related field, with postdoctoral research experience.
• (2) years min: Rodent stress or developmental adversity models; longitudinal, ethological and sex-inclusive behavioral phenotyping.
• (2) years min: tereotaxic surgery, viral delivery and tracing, transgenic colonies, activity-dependent tagging, chemogenetics, whole-brain mapping.
• (2) years min: Atlas registration and quantitative microscopy; programming in Python, R or MATLAB, with mixed-effects, trajectory or network analysis.
• (2) years min: Peer-reviewed publications, trainee mentoring, and grant or fellowship writing.
• (2) years min: Interest in learning optogenetics, fiber photometry and in vivo electrophysiology; training provided.

Work Location: 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032

To Apply: Submit an application through our website at https://rfmh.applicantpro.com/jobs/. Please note only applications submitted through our website will be considered.

The Mission of the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. (RFMH) is to promote the mental health of all New Yorkers, with a focus on providing hope and supporting recovery for adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbances. Applicants with lived mental health experience are encouraged to apply. RFMH is deeply committed to supporting underserved individuals, organizations, and communities. To this end, RFMH is focused on implementing activities and initiatives to reduce disparities in access, quality, and treatment outcomes for underserved populations. A critical component of these efforts is ensuring that RFMH is a diverse and inclusive workplace where all employees' unique attributes and skills are valued and utilized to support the mission of the Agency. RFMH is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

The Research Foundation is a private not-for-profit corporation and is not an agency or instrumentality of the State of New York. Employees of the Research Foundation are not state employees, do not participate in any state retirement system, and do not receive state fringe benefits. Excellent Benefits Package. Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer - Disabled/Veteran, 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) compliant.