New team sought for BRNI in unprecedented cross-campus recruitment effort

 Neuroscience at WVU

WVU’s Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute has launched a national search for six scientists to form the backbone of a new push into quantitative neuroscience – an interdisciplinary approach to studying how the nervous system processes information within the human brain.

“Two scientists will be members of the Health Sciences faculty, two in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and two in the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources,” said Clay Marsh, M.D., WVU’s vice president and executive dean for health sciences. “To compete effectively in this area of science, we need a team that crosses all the boundaries between mathematics, bioengineering, physics and medicine.”

This is first wave of recruitments by BRNI since it was unified with WVU earlier this year.

“We are looking for scientists to lead the next wave of research that unravels the complexity of the human brain,” said George Spirou, Ph.D., co-director of BRNI. “WVU is emerging as a leader in developing new technologies to drive deeper understanding of brain function and pathology, and contribute to the economic engine of our region and our nation.”

Spirou and a search committee from across the University will seek recruits with expertise in one of several disciplines, including invasive or non-invasive monitoring and modulation of electrical and biochemical activity and changes in brain structure; the neural encoding of information as electrical signals; theories and models of brain function at cellular and neural circuit scales of analysis; systems biology approaches to cell signaling in neurons and glia; and developmental biology.

“With the recent integration of BRNI into the University, we recognize our responsibility to invest in the research capabilities of our faculty,” said Marsh. “It’s a rare opportunity to ramp up a whole new area of research. Creating this group will leapfrog our neuroscience efforts into one of the top programs in the country.”

BRNI has a highly collaborative faculty across the WVU campus. Recruits will join existing research focus areas of addiction, human cognition, neurodegeneration, sensory processing, stroke and a recent initiative to study healthy aging.

“We are recruiting people who will tackle the difficult and interesting questions and, if they need to, can design the new instruments that can answer these questions,” said Spirou.

WVU has placed ads in national academic publications, and is circulating news of the hiring opportunities through the neuroscience community.  For more information, including how to apply, visit https://wvu.taleo.net/careersection/faculty/jobdetail.ftl?job=04312

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