Job description
One of Canada's Top 10 Research Hospitals, Sunnybrook Research Institute is developing innovations in care for the more than 1.3 million patients the hospital cares for annually.
Sunnybrook Research Institute is the research enterprise of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, a teaching hospital fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. Research spans three Toronto-based campuses, eight programs and three scientific platforms. Our main aims are to understand and prevent disease, and to develop treatments that enhance and extend life. Our vision is to invent the future of health care. Each year, we conduct about $100 million in research across 500,000 square feet, including in the world’s first Centre for Research in Image-Guided Therapeutics.
Brain, Body, and Perception Lab Overview
The Brain, Body, and Perception Research Program at Sunnybrook Research Institute studies neural and behavioural phenotypes associated with appearance perception in clinical and nonclinical populations, including body dysmorphic disorder and eating disorders. Our goal is to understand these understudied conditions and inform improved treatment strategies.
Our interdisciplinary research combines functional, diffusion, and structural MRI, EEG, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), ECG, eye-tracking, psychophysics, and novel digital 3D tools for assessing body size estimation and dissatisfaction. We use multivariate statistics, supervised and unsupervised machine learning, and computational modelling to characterize behavioural, physiological, and neural responses and predict clinical outcomes. The program is supported by CIHR, U.S. NIH, and foundation grants.
Position Overview
We are seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to lead and contribute to studies of neural and behavioural mechanisms of body-image disturbances. The fellow will work in a collaborative, clinically informed research environment, with access to neuroimaging expertise and opportunities to develop independent research questions. Dr. Jamie Feusner will provide scientific mentorship, including guidance on fellowship applications, grant writing, publications, and career
development.
Summary of Duties:
• Lead neuroimaging-focused research projects, from hypothesis development and study design through analysis, interpretation, publication, and dissemination.
• Process and analyze fMRI data using established tools such as FSL, AFNI, SPM, or equivalent software; apply appropriate statistical and computational methods.
• Contribute to multimodal research integrating structural/diffusion MRI, EEG, eye-tracking, ECG, behavioural measures, and/or neuromodulation, depending on project needs and expertise.
• Develop, document, and maintain reproducible computational workflows and code for data processing, quality control, visualization, and analysis.
• Prepare first-author and collaborative manuscripts, conference abstracts and presentations, and fellowship or research grant applications.
• Mentor and train students and research assistants in research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and responsible research practices.
• Collaborate with clinical and technical investigators and coordinate scientific activities across multiple concurrent projects.
• Follow approved research ethics protocols, institutional data security requirements, and sound data-management practices.
Qualifications:
• Completed Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. in neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, engineering, biostatistics, physics, psychology, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience analyzing fMRI data, including statistical analysis using FSL, AFNI, SPM, or comparable software.
• Strong programming and computing skills in MATLAB, Python, R, and/or Bash, including experience with research data processing and analysis.
• Ability to work independently, manage more than one project concurrently, and contribute effectively in a multidisciplinary team.
• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills, with demonstrated capacity for scientific writing and presentation.
• Ability and willingness to mentor students and research assistants.
• A record of peer-reviewed publications or other research outputs commensurate with career stage is preferred.
• Experience with machine learning, multivariate analysis, computational modelling, multimodal neuroimaging, or clinical neuroscience is an asset.
• Familiarity with reproducible research workflows, version control, and secure handling of human-participant research data is an asset.