Research Principal

About the role

This position is in the laboratory of Daniel Wonjae Chung, MD, PhD, part of the Translational Neuroscience Program in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital. The lab conducts postmortem and computational research to increase understanding of synaptic disruptions that lead to working memory deficits in schizophrenia. The role is grant‑funded.

Responsibilities

• Mentor, train, and assist with supervising junior research staff.
• Provide advanced‑level research support for the study, performing duties in line with system‑wide competencies and behaviors.
• Execute postmortem studies, including expansion microscopy, nanoscale imaging, and post‑image processing.
• Oversee lab organization, assist with recruitment and staff supervision, and help plan, coordinate, and supervise research projects and lab experiments/procedures.
• Collect and analyze data.
• Provide operational oversight of basic‑science research and instrumentation.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree required, preferably in psychology, neuroscience, counseling, sociology, or a related research field.
• Minimum of two years of work experience in a research project and/or related clinical setting.
• Familiarity with computers and common software packages; working knowledge of research methodology.
• Prior supervisory experience preferred.
• Hands‑on experience in immunofluorescence staining of brain tissue sections and quantitative confocal and/or super‑resolution microscopy.
• Ability to write and troubleshoot code in Python or MATLAB for quantitative post‑image processing and analysis.
• Record of first‑authored publications demonstrating the ability to carry a project from data collection through analysis to publication.
• Familiarity with computational modeling of neural circuits is an advantage.

Licensure, Certifications, and Clearances

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