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The Rutgers University Molecular Neuroscience of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Training (MNADRT) Program invites applications for NIAAA-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowships related to alcohol and drug abuse research. Possible areas of study include but are not limited to:
- stress-regulatory neuronal circuitry in alcohol and substance abuse disorders
- epigenetic mechanisms of fetal and adult alcohol effects
- transgenerational epigenetic inheritance
- intergenerational transmission of traumatic stress and human addiction related behaviors
- neurocardiac changes in binge drinking and alcohol use disorders
- neuroimmune and behavioral disorders in alcoholism
- synaptic dysfunction and alcohol use disorders
- brain substrates of addiction
Our laboratories use multidisciplinary approaches including molecular and cellular techniques, electrophysiology, optogenetics, designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs, stem cell technology, neuroimaging, neuropsychology, neuroimmunology, neurobehavioral pharmacology, and genetics to increase the understanding of the genetic and environmental influences on the nervous system controlling stress dysregulation and pathogenesis in alcoholism and drug abuse. Faculty mentors include Drs. Dipak Sarkar (fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, neuroimmunology and transgenerational epigenetic inheritance), Gary Aston-Jones (brain substrates of addiction using advanced behavioral economic and other behavioral and neurotransduction approaches), Marsha Bates and Jennifer Buckman (interaction between the brain and the heart during thought, emotion, and behavior affecting changes in alcohol use), Sulie Chang (the association between neuroimmune disorders and behavioral disorders caused by alcoholism), Danielle Dick (how genetic and environmental factors contribute to patterns of substance use and related disorders across development), Ron Hart (human stem cell-derived neuron models of genetic risks for alcoholism), Denise Hien (intergenerational transmission of violence and addictions), Rafiq Huda (the function of molecularly- and anatomically-defined cortical, striatal, and midbrain circuits in decision making), Zhiping Pang (the molecular mechanisms underlying the synaptic dysfunction that leads to neuropsychiatric disorders including alcohol use disorders), Jay Tischfield (alcoholism and neuropsychiatric disorders within the overall context of neurogenetics), and Jiang Ye (opioid and dopamine in alcohol reward mechanisms). With our program’s emphasis on comprehensive career mentorship, fellows will also select a secondary mentor from a larger pool of training faculty.
Please send a cover letter, a CV, a statement of training and career goals, names of 3 references, and a transcript to:
Start date is open. Fellows must be US citizens or permanent residents. Rutgers is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.