T32 Postdoc Opportunity Training Program in Emotion Research

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded Training Program in Emotion Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will have one, 1-year post-doctoral position starting in Fall 2022. (We will submit our competitive five-year renewal proposal in May 2022 for the period of 8/1/2023-7/31/2028. If the training grant is successfully renewed, we may be able to offer two additional years of funding for this position.) Applications are due on Tuesday, February 15, 2022. For more information, please visit emotion.wisc.edu/.

The following faculty all desire post-doctoral candidates:

Richard J. Davidson: Dr. Davidson is recruiting for two separate post-doctoral scholar positions:

1) Postdoctoral scholar in collaboration with Dr. Stacey M. Schaefer for a large multimodal neuroimaging and psychophysiological R01 study (current n=159, goal n=350) examining how individual differences in emotional response time courses and stress response time courses (e.g., responses to the Trier Social Stress Test) relate to mental health, brain structure and function, immune function, cognitive abilities, reward learning, affective biases, diurnal cortisol, daily emotional dynamics  (via ecological momentary assessment), and coping with real life stress and adversity experiences, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applicants with interest and/or specialization in any of the above are encouraged to apply as this large dataset affords the opportunity to gain training in many different methodologies and test varied hypotheses regarding the intersection of emotion, stress, life experiences, cognition, the brain, health, and wellbeing.

2) Postdoctoral scholar in collaboration with Dr. Christine Wilson-Mendenhall to conduct research focused on characterizing and measuring emotional skillsets that may underlie beneficial change in contemplative interventions, such as mindfulness-based or compassion-based interventions. This research investigates behavioral and experience sampling methods for assessing target emotional skills and qualities, with an emphasis on feasibility and remote implementation. This work also includes a theoretical focus on characterizing key constructs, which often occurs through interdisciplinary collaboration with scholars of Buddhist philosophy and traditions.

Ryan J. Herringa: The BRAVE Research Center focuses on neurodevelopmental mechanisms of risk and resilience in youth following trauma.  Current R01 funded studies include 1) a longitudinal neuroimaging study examining maltreatment-related trajectories in adolescent affective disorders, 2) neurobehavioral mechanisms of parent-child fear learning and extinction in pediatric PTSD.  Candidates with interest and experience in neuroimaging analyses as well as advanced analytical skills such as machine learning will be strongly considered.

Melissa A. Rosenkranz: Dr. Rosenkranz’s program of research is focused on investigating the biology of the bi-directional mind-brain-immune pathways through which emotion and inflammation are mutually influential. She uses a wide range of tools for this purpose, including functional and structural neuroimaging (multi-modal MRI and PET). Behavioral interventions, such as meditation, are an important aspect of this work, where the neural processing of stress and emotion are examined as modifiable targets for treatment of chronic inflammation. More recently, she has begun pursuing questions related to the impact of inflammation in the body on brain health and long-term cognitive function.

Applicants:

Please send the following items by Tuesday, February 15, 2022 to the Training Program in Emotion Research administrator, Ms. Jane Lambert, at: EmotionT32Grant@bi.wisc.edu

1. Cover letter: Identify the program faculty member(s) with whom you wish to train.
2. CV
3. Research statement
4. Three letters of reference (These can be submitted separately by the letter writers themselves, and will be accepted until February 18.)

Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply. We are an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer.