Postdoctoral Researcher

The Wolf Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to join a newly funded five-year NIH/NINDS R01 investigating how traumatic brain injury disrupts the hippocampal–prefrontal circuits that support memory and cognition.

The science. TBI degrades the oscillatory scaffolding — theta–gamma phase–amplitude coupling — that organizes neuronal ensembles across hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, an effect potentially linked to interneuron loss and mechanistically distinct from post-traumatic hyperexcitability. Yet injured animals often show striking behavioral resilience. This project asks how these networks represent cognitive information, choices and memory during behavior, how injured networks compensate, what eventually overwhelms that compensation leading to cognitive dysfunction.

The approach. We use a gyrencephalic swine model with chronic laminar depth electrodes in hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex, recording hundreds of single units and field potentials wirelessly during working-memory and touchscreen cognitive tasks, sleep, and home-cage behavior.  We have multiple forms of traumatic brain injury represented in the laboratory, and are examining how each aspect of injury contributes to dysfunction of these circuits.  Neuromodulation will eventually be utilized to address these deficits once they are identified.

The role. The fellow will lead in vivo experiments — chronic electrode implantation, behavioral training, and wireless multi-region recording in awake, behaving animals — and will take primary responsibility for analyzing and publishing results. The lab holds an extensive existing dataset of chronic hippocampal and prefrontal recordings, so a strong candidate will be writing papers from day one while new cohorts come online. There is substantial room to develop independent directions, contribute to grant writing, mentor junior staff, and translate findings toward human intracranial recordings.

Qualifications. Ph.D. in neuroscience, bioengineering, or a related field. Hands-on experience with in vivo electrophysiology (chronic multichannel or silicon-probe recordings in behaving animals) and the analytical skills to take that data to publication (Python or MATLAB). A demonstrated record of first-author writing is important. Background in behavior or neural oscillations is a plus. Large-animal and surgical experience are welcome but not required. Strong communication skills and the ability to work on a team in a complex environment are essential.

Environment. The lab sits within Penn Neurosurgery and the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, in a large, collaborative TBI and neuroengineering community. Salary is commensurate with experience and consistent with NIH postdoctoral scales, with full benefits.

To apply. Send a CV, a brief statement of research interests, and contact information for three references to John A. Wolf, Ph.D., at wolfjo@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. Review begins immediately and continues until the position is filled.