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Postdoctoral Research Associate position – large-scale psychoacoustics – Audiology & Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD (U.S. Citizen)
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We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join our auditory research team at Walter Reed. This position, funded by Defense Health Affairs in support of Army Hearing Program, has been established to help support
research focused on the Prevention, Assessment and Treatment of auditory disorders in the population of active-duty and retired service members and their families.
The goal of this postdoctoral research position is to carry out research aimed at improving the hearing surveillance system in the Department of Defense (DoD) by:
- Developing better tools for reliably assessing occupational noise exposure and its relationship to audiometric and psychoacoustic measures
- Identifying early indicators of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus
- Identifying psychoacoustic and speech-perception tests that are correlated with estimates of noise exposure or subjective complaints about hearing difficulties or tinnitus
- Efficiently assessing the functional consequences of the spectrum of hearing impairment and tinnitus
To address these questions, we have developed a tablet- and cloud-based capability to combine an audiometric threshold screening test with any brief speech-in-noise or suprathreshold psychoacoustic test that can be carried out without a sound booth. We
have the capability to deploy the tests to a large number of DoD sites to collect data on thousands of service members in a relatively short amount of time. Optimal use of this system to answer research questions will require the development of psychoacoustic
tests that are sensitive to individual differences in hearing performance but that can be performed rapidly in untrained listeners.
We are seeking a postdoctoral research fellow with a passion for hearing research, speech perception, hearing conservation, and psychoacoustics, who is excited by the prospect of leveraging these capabilities to solve some of the basic unresolved questions
in hearing loss research, with the ultimate goal of reducing service related hearing loss in the military.
Qualifications:
The most important qualities we are seeking in an individual are:
-Strong technical skills including some programming and signal processing experience, to independently develop, implement, troubleshoot, carry out and analyze auditory experiments
-Demonstrated track record in designing, carrying out and publishing hearing science research
-Experience using psychophysical techniques with human subjects to test basic-science hypotheses regarding hearing loss, and creativity in analyzing data sets to answer these questions.
To apply:
Please send us your CV, and provide a brief (0.5 to 1 page) proposal describing the kinds of hearing-research questions you are interested in pursuing and outlining a novel approach that would use the existing infrastructure to address these questions.
Education Required:
Ph.D. in Hearing Science, Audiology, Computer Science, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Neuroscience or related field is strongly preferred, although individuals with a Masters’ degree, strong technical skills and a demonstrated track record of research
ability will also be considered.
Time frame:
Funding is guaranteed for one year, with a high likelihood of recurring funding in future years. Salary is commensurate with experience, but is very competitive relative to a typical post-doc salary. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is the
flagship of the U.S. military health care system.
Citizenship requirement: Must be a U.S. Citizen.
For further information, or to discuss this position, please contact Dr. Joshua Bernstein at (301) 319-7040, email: joshua.g.bernstein.civ@xxxxxxxx
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