POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR

Full Time

100%

The Clauss Laboratory is seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral scholar to join a multidisciplinary research program focused on understanding risk and resilience for psychiatric illness across development using multimodal human neuroscience approaches. The lab integrates neuroimaging, sleep measurement, digital phenotyping, electronic health record (EHR) data, and deep clinical phenotyping to identify predictors of symptom trajectories and functional outcomes in youth and young adults.

A major focus of the lab is the development of state-of-the-art longitudinal precision functional mapping approaches, including repeated neuroimaging and intensive phenotyping, to understand how brain networks and symptoms evolve within individuals over time. These studies combine high-frequency neuroimaging, behavioral assessment, wearable data, and digital phenotyping to characterize the dynamics of psychiatric symptoms and brain function.

The postdoctoral scholar will have opportunities to work with multiple complementary datasets, including large-scale developmental neuroimaging cohorts (e.g., ABCD, AMP-SCZ) as well as an existing weekly longitudinal precision functional mapping (PFM) dataset that integrates repeated MRI, behavioral assessments, and symptom monitoring within individuals. Ongoing work is expanding these approaches to psychiatric populations, enabling the study of how brain network dynamics relate to emerging symptoms and functional outcomes.

The scholar will join a highly collaborative research environment and will work closely with investigators across psychiatry, neuroscience, engineering, data science, and neuroimaging methods. The position provides opportunities to collaborate across multiple research groups and institutions and to contribute to large-scale longitudinal datasets and emerging multimodal analytic approaches. 

A major goal of the fellowship is career development. The postdoctoral scholar will receive structured mentorship and will be encouraged and supported to develop independent projects and apply for external funding (e.g., NIH K-awards and foundation grants).

The Clauss Lab is based in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, within a vibrant and collaborative neuroscience research community.

Iowa City is a dynamic and family-friendly college town consistently ranked among the most livable communities in the United States. The area offers excellent schools, abundant outdoor recreation, and a vibrant arts and cultural scene. Iowa City has a unique intellectual and cultural environment while maintaining a high quality of life and affordable cost of living. To learn more about the community visit: https://greateriowacity.com/build/area-advantages/ 

The position will begin in Fall 2026, with flexibility in start date based on candidate availability. The initial appointment is for 1 year, with funding available for up to 2–3 years contingent on performance. The position is designed to support the fellow in developing an independent research program (e.g., K99/R00 or equivalent).

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Lead and coordinate human subjects research studies with oversight by Dr. Clauss and collaborators involving neuroimaging, sleep measurement, digital phenotyping, and clinical assessment

• Analyze multimodal datasets including neuroimaging, behavioral, wearable, clinical, and longitudinal data

• Develop analytic pipelines and statistical models for developmental and longitudinal neuroscience data

• Contribute to projects integrating clinical cohorts and electronic health record (EHR) data to study psychiatric risk and outcomes

• Prepare manuscripts, conference presentations, and grant applications

• Mentor research assistants, students, and trainees

• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams across psychiatry, neuroscience, engineering, and data science

The postdoctoral scholar will receive individualized mentorship and career development support, including guidance in manuscript preparation, grant writing, and development of an independent research program. Fellows are encouraged to pursue independent funding opportunities and to lead projects aligned with their own research interests.

• PhD, MD/PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree in neuroscience, psychology, biomedical engineering, psychiatry, computational neuroscience, or a related field

• Experience conducting human subjects research

• Strong quantitative and data analysis skills, including experience with R, Python, MATLAB

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Strong organizational and interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team

• Able to work and learn independently and motivated to contribute to the wider research mission of the lab

• Graduate experience with neuroimaging analysis (e.g., fMRI, structural MRI, functional connectivity)

• Experience with longitudinal or developmental datasets

• Experience with digital phenotyping, wearable sensors, or sleep research

• Experience with clinical or behavioral phenotyping, including structured psychiatric assessments

• Interest or experience in electronic health record (EHR) analysis, clinical risk prediction, or large-scale health datasets

• Interest in developing independent research projects and pursuing external funding

Curriculum Vita
Letters of Interest

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