The University of Southern California is seeking to appoint a Post-Doctoral Research Associate within the Department of Radiology at the Keck School of Medicine. This position is funded by the NIH for 5 yrs through an R01, “Large-scale harmonization and integration of multi-modal ADNI data for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias”, led by Dr Bino A. Varghese (https://sites.google.com/view/radiomicslabatusc/home). The project is a mulitPI-driven interdisciplinary collaboration with Dr Nasim Shiekh-Bahai, Dr. Jeiran Choupan at USC and Dr. Gaurav Pandey at the Ichan School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai (https://icahn.mssm.edu/profiles/gaurav-pandey) focused on preparing robust implementation of predictive modeling algorithms in a big data environment, especially large high-performance computing clusters.
This project calls for an enthusiastic and self-motivated early career researcher interested in working at the intersection of the computational and biomedical sciences. Candidates should have, or expect to soon obtain, a PhD in a relevant discipline and experience in imaging, image processing, machine/deep learning. They must also have strong mathematical and coding skills, and preferably some experience in open-source software development. Specific experience in Alzheimer’s is preferred but not required.
As the successful candidate, you will join a diverse team with interests in imaging, machine learning, and multiomics across different diseases. Your project will be focused on quantitative imaging and AI to develop predictive models for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and AD-related dementia (ADRD) using imaging scans (MRI & PET), clinical biomarkers, and genetics. You will review currently reported AD predictive models and associated ML approaches and compare them against each other to identify the best suited combination for classification. As an interdisciplinary project, you will also work closely with colleagues from the clinical and AD informatics community to develop tools for a high-throughput assessment. In addition to the AD/ADRD project, the selected candidate will be able to contribute to others ongoing in the lab, as well as define their own projects. In this appointment, you will have the opportunity to disseminate your research via peer-reviewed journals or abstracts and you will be supported in your continuing professional development via access to one-on-one mentoring , courses on grant writing, project management, supervision, and leadership. You will also be provided with opportunities to teach and supervise students at undergraduate and graduate levels.
For informal enquiries about the project, please contact the Principal Investigator, Dr Bino A. Varghese (bino.varghese@med.usc.edu).
The annual base salary range for this position is $54,080 - $75,770.04. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.
Minimum Education: Ph.D. or equivalent doctorate Minimum Experience: 1 year Minimum Field of Expertise: Directly related education and experience in research specialization with advanced knowledge of equipment, procedures and analysis methods.
