Research Scholar (Postdoctoral Fellowship)
NCIRE - The Northern California Institute for Research and Education, Inc.
Summary
Dr. Kristine Yaffe and the SFVA/UCSF Center of Population Brain Health are recruiting for an advanced two year Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program in Data Science Applications to Alzheimer disease and Alzheimer disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) and Brain Health. Potential areas of application include bioinformatics, big data, genetic epidemiology, prognostic models, and machine learning. The fellowship is associated with the Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center at the San Francisco VA Health Care System (MIRECC; VISN 21) and affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Job description
The primary goal of the program is to train fellows with a doctoral degree in epidemiology, statistical genetics, bioinformatics, biostatistics, computer science, data science or similar quantitative field to become skilled investigators for advancing our understanding of AD/ADRD with a focus on solving new challenges in cognitive and brain health research. Over the course of the 2-year program, fellows are trained in bioinformatic concepts and computational methods with opportunities to generate novel approaches and tools to analyze AD/ADRD and brain health data.
Responsibilities
- Work on large-scale datasets to address research questions including understanding risk and resilience factors of brain health, the AD/ADRD exposome across the life course, and mechanistic pathways of AD/ADRD development.
- Drive an original research agenda while gaining skills and training to become an independent investigator.
- Collaborate with investigators and participate in didactic sessions under the guidance of Fellowship Director, Dr. Kristine Yaffe.
Additional faculty mentors are affiliated with the SFVAHCS services for Mental Health, Medicine, Neurology, and Radiology, the UCSF/SFVAHCS Center for Population Brain Health, the UCSF Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Neurology, Epidemiology/Biostatistics, Precision Medicine, Neuroscience, the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, and the Global Brain Health Institute.
We are a team of multidisciplinary researchers, dedicated to advancing brain health across the lifespan. We emphasize population-based research methods to identify risk and protective factors for AD/ADRD, cognitive aging, and brain health and to optimize cognitive and brain health in aging. The expertise of our faculty spans the fields of epidemiology, neurology, and psychiatry. This fellowship is funded by the Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Requirements
- Doctoral degree in epidemiology, statistical genetics, bioinformatics, biostatistics, computer science, data science, or similar quantitative field
- Interest in computational approaches to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, cognitive aging, and brain health research
- Letter of interest detailing research experience, interests, and career goals
- CV
- 3 letters of recommendation
Benefits
- Base wage range $70,304.00 - $79,639.96/year
- Eligible for additional compensation including bonuses
Company overview
NCIRE - The Northern California Institute for Research and Education, Inc. is the leading private nonprofit research institute in the United States exclusively dedicated to advancing Veterans' health research. Founded in 1988 and operating as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, NCIRE partners with the San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS) and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) to conduct groundbreaking biomedical research. The institute supports over 200 MD and PhD principal investigators working across diverse research areas including Alzheimer's disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and substance use disorders. With $70 million in research expenditures, NCIRE manages the largest funded research program within the Veterans Health Administration, operating from 250,000-300,000 square feet of research space on the SFVAHCS campus. The organization's mission focuses on improving health outcomes for Veterans and active military personnel through innovative scientific discoveries, clinical trials, and translational research that bridges laboratory findings to clinical applications.