The NRC Postdoctoral fellowship position will support the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) Blast-Induced Neurotrauma (BINT) branch, aligned under the Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience (CMPN), in a project focusing on identifying biomarkers for traumatic brain injury caused by single and/or repeated blast exposures. The research advisor and support staff are working in to complete a wide-ranging video-EEG/EMG analysis of brain activity disturbances reflected as alterations in frequency band waves and neuropathology under the conditions of blast-TBI, using a validated animal model to identify and characterize the earliest signature(s) of brain disorders. The blast exposure experiments utilize an Advanced Blast Stimulator. Brain activity is monitored via EEG/EMG telemetry devices implanted  utilizing established surgery and recording protocols in rodents and ferrets. For analysis, power spectra, machine learning, statistical modeling and other quantitative analyses of neuronal recordings are performed using programming (e.g., Python, MATLAB) and specific software (e.g. Neuroscore). This a pre-clinical and translactional project, with promising blast-TBI animal models, seeking new treatments for brain disorders caused by single and/or multiple blast exposures mainly occurring during military training. 

References

1. Rubio JE, Unnikrishnan G, Sajja VSSS, Van Albert S, Rossetti F, Skotak M, Alay E, Sundaramurthy A, Subramaniam DR, Long JB, Chandra N, Reifman J. Investigation of the direct and indirect mechanisms of primary blast insult to the brain. Sci Rep. 2021 Aug 6;11(1):16040. PMID: 34362935

2. Bugay V, Bozdemir E, Vigil FA, Chun SH, Holstein DM, Elliott WR, Sprague CJ, Cavazos JE, Zamora DO, Rule G, Shapiro MS, Lechleiter JD, Brenner R. 2020. A Mouse Model of Repetitive Blast Traumatic Brain Injury Reveals Post-Trauma Seizures and Increased Neuronal Excitability. J Neurotrauma. Jan 15;37(2):248-261

3. Arun P, Rossetti F, Wilder, DM, Wang Y, Gist ID and Long JB. Blast exposure causes long-term degeneration of neuronal cytoskeletal elements in the cochlear nucleus: a potential mechanism for chronic auditory dysfunctions. Front Neurol. 2021 Mar 12. 

key words

brain activity, electroencephalogram (EEG) , power spectra, neuronal hyperexcitability, EEG telemetry, animals models, rodents, ferrets

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and non-U.S. citizens

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants

Additional Benefits

Relocation

Awardees who reside more than 50 miles from their host laboratory and remain on tenure for at least six months are eligible for paid relocation to within the vicinity of their host laboratory.

Health insurance

A group health insurance program is available to awardees and their qualifying dependents in the United States.