The Human Motor Control and Neuromodulation Lab under Dr. Bronte-Stewart, part of the Stanford Movement disorders Center within the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, is seeking a neural engineering postdoctoral scholar to investigate neural closed loop deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease.
The goal of the research in the laboratory is to understand the pathophysiology of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. At Stanford, innovations in neural interface technology have allowed us to discover how abnormal electrical brain activity contributes to disorders in movement. In the Human Motor Control and Neuromodulation Lab, the first decoding of electrical activity in deep brain structures during abnormal movement in Parkinson’s disease patients was performed using novel and investigative sensing neurostimulators. Our team has deconstructed brain activity to discover both the neural code responsible and kinematic quantification for various motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease. This has enabled us to reverse engineer brain circuitry and restore movement in Parkinson’s disease using the first closed loop, demand-based brain pacemakers that respond to neural and kinematic markers of movement impairment.
The aim of the current work is to implement the next generation of neural closed loop deep brain stimulation (DBS) for gait impairment and freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, you will work to implement closed loop DBS in both the lab and at-home during both instrumented gait and other motor tasks as well as daily living. The current position offers an exceptional opportunity for neural engineers with a background in closed loop, brain computer interfaces, or local field potential analysis to apply these skills in a clinically relevant domain.
The desired candidate would have a PhD in engineering (biomedical, electrical, or mechanical) or neuroscience with a quantitative background. Preferred start date is before summer of 2023 but is flexible.
Job Requirements
Required:
- PhD in Engineering (biomedical, electrical, or mechanical) or Neuroscience
- Experience in human or non-human primate neural electrophysiology analysis (LFP, iEEG, etc)
- Comfortable analyzing data in Matlab, Python, or similar languages
- Experience working with large noisy datasets
- Ability to work well in a diverse team
- Effective oral and written communication skills
- Excellent organization skills and demonstrated ability to complete detailed work accurately
- Excellent problem-solving ability
Preferred:
- Experience with closed loop deep brain stimulation or brain computer interfaces
- Experience with Parkinson’s disease or other clinical populations
- Experience with C#, C++, or Java
How to Apply:
Apply by sending the following to Kevin Wilkins wilkins2@stanford.edu
- CV
- Cover letter describing interest and relevant experience for the project