[visionlist] Post-doctoral fellowship position available at the University of Houston College of Optometry

[Das, Vallabh E]

An NIH funded post-doctoral fellowship position is immediately available in the lab of Dr. Vallabh Das at the University of Houston College of Optometry to conduct research on the visual oculomotor system in non-human primate models for strabismus and amblyopia.



Currently the lab is pursuing two major areas of research via a newly funded NIH grant.


1)    Developing and testing a new treatment for deprivation amblyopia that is based on pharmacological retinal blockade of the fellow (non-amblyopic) eye. This project involves investigation of recovery of monocular, binocular and oculomotor function in infant and adult amblyopic animals following intravitreal injection of low-dose TTX into the fellow eye. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37795183/)



2)    Investigating the neural substrate for a curious gaze-orientation strategy in strabismus wherein subjects will choose to fixate with either eye depending on location of the target (fixation-preference behavior). This project involves investigation of eye movement behavior and single-cell recording of neurons in the frontal eye fields in awake-behaving non-human primate models for strabismus. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37920302/)



Successful candidates will be responsible for planning and conducting innovative research and contributing to the advancement of scientific knowledge within either project. The ideal candidate for this position will have a PhD in vision science or related fields such as neuroscience, biomedical engineering or psychology. Knowledge of MATLAB and/or PsychToolbox programming for stimulus generation and data analysis would be advantageous. Experience working with non-human primates is an advantage although not a requirement.



To apply, applicants must send a cover letter expressing their research experience and interest in this position, a recent CV and contact information for two references to Dr. Vallabh Das (vdas at central.uh.edu<mailto:vdas at central.uh.edu>).  For any additional questions, please also contact Dr. Das.


The University of Houston College of Optometry has an outstanding faculty with research programs in a variety of vision science areas (https://www.opt.uh.edu/research/areas-of-focus/). The visual neurosciences are particularly strong with faculty research interest ranging from processing information in retinal circuits and various areas of the visual cortex, to circadian effects on function, how a decision to look in a certain direction is made and mechanisms underlying visual perception in normal and amblyopic subjects. State-of-the-art approaches include neurophysiological recording techniques and use of optogenetics, 2-photon microscopy, visual psychophysical and behavioral testing paradigms, computational neuroscience approaches and imaging. In addition to human subject studies, rodent, non-human primate and zebrafish models for disease are employed in these investigations. The selected candidate for this post-doctoral position will have ample opportunity to collaborate with other faculty in the college to further their research experiences.


The policy of the University of Houston System and its universities is to ensure equal opportunity in all its educational programs and activities, and all terms and conditions of employment without regard to age, race, color, disability, religion, national origin, ethnicity, military status, genetic information, sex (including gender and pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or status, or gender expression, except where such a distinction is required by law.


Thank you

Vallabh Das

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[Vallabh Das email signature.jpeg]

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