Postdoctoral Associate

The Respiratory Neuromuscular Research Lab studies how neural drive, strength, and muscle recruitment affect respiratory behaviors such as breathing and coughing. In particular, we focus on how these factors change in the presence of illness or neuromuscular disease, and whether therapeutic interventions stabilize or improve breathing function and a patient’s daily experiences. We seek a Postdoctoral Associate for a funded research project that involves clinical measurements of breathing in adults with neuromuscular disease, and investigates the effects of therapeutic approaches intended to facilitate breathing.

The Postdoctoral Associate will receive individualized mentoring and gain experience in research design, project management, measurement development and evaluation, quantitative analyses of breathing, grant writing, and research dissemination/knowledge translation.

Research Project Coordination and Participant Recruitment:

This position will collaborate with the research team to maintain project productivity, including monitoring and achieving study milestones and compliance with regulatory oversight. Maintains all required regulatory, safety, and training requirements. Assists with the participant recruitment and consenting process, through interactions with regional neuromuscular patient clinics, communication with potential participants, review of consenting documents, and scheduling of study appointments, blood draws or medications when relevant.

Data Collection, Management, and Interpretation:

This position will conduct collection of study tests and measures, which include voluntary and evoked electrophysiological tests, pulmonary function testing, imaging, and patient-reported outcomes in adults with ventilatory insufficiency and unaffected control subjects. On rare occasions, this position may involve within-state travel to assist with participant screening or data collection. This position will oversee data scoring and entry in protected databases, which may include MS excel, LabChart, or MATLAB software, REDCap databases, or electronic health records. This position will also assist in the development of new forms and items for data entry. Will collaborate with the research team to select and conduct statistical tests and interpret research findings.

Research Dissemination and Leadership:

This position involves plentiful mentored opportunities to develop the dissemination and leadership skills required of independent researchers. Participates in informal journal clubs and writing groups. Assists with preparation, editing, and submission of scholarly works to scientific journals, meetings, and granting agencies. Attends workshops and conferences focused on career development of research trainees. Assists with training, teaching and mentoring research staff, undergraduate researchers, and graduate students on the fundamentals of research design, study activities, and science communication.

$56,484 annually, commensurate with experience levels and in accordance with current NIH postdoctoral salary guidelines

Doctoral degree in exercise, rehabilitation, physiology, or neuroplasticity-related concentration.

• Independent with office management (e.g. MS Office, Adobe Acrobat) and team collaboration (e.g. Zoom, Teams) software.
• Ability to work independently, interact professionally, and possess effective writing, time management, and organizational skills.
• Experience working in rehabilitation settings or with patients with respiratory problems.
• Experience with exercise evaluation, functional assessments, or pulmonary function testing.
• Experience with research data analysis software (e.g. LabChart, MATLAB) or statistical software (e.g. SPSS, StatView).

In order to be considered, you must upload your cover letter and resume.

Application must be submitted by 11:55 p.m. (ET) of the posting end date.

Final candidate will be required to provide official transcript to the hiring department upon hire.  A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible.  Degrees earned from an education institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), which can be found at http://www.naces.org/ .

If an accommodation is needed to apply for this position, please call 352-392-2477 or the Florida Relay System at 800-955-8771 TDD. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the U.S. Searches are conducted according to Florida's Sunshine Law.