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Postdoc Description
The Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo Medical School announces the opening of the selection process for a postdoctoral scholarship under the supervision of Dr. Roseli G. Shavitt.

The scholarship provides support for up to two years, although extensions are possible through reassessment and new submissions. The expected starting date is the beginning or mid 2013. The lab where the paradigm will be developed has already support in the form of a research grant in the coming years.

The Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Program from the Department of Psychiatry of the Institute of Psychiatry - University of São Paulo Medical School - began in 1997 and has been investigating phenomenological, genetic and neuropsychological aspects of OCD. In partnership with other institutions, it is fully equipped to investigate the neural circuits and biological markers involved in the disorder.

The project aims to evaluate attentional bias in OCD adult patients, as well as to conduct an attention retraining trial in these patients.

For application, please send your curriculum vitae, a brief account of the objectives intended for the postdoctoral scholarship and at least 2 letters of reference, until February 4, 2013, to: Prof. Eurípedes C. Miguel, e-mail: ecmiguel@usp.br

Main project abstract: 2011/21357-9 Assessment of Neuronal Pathways and Biological Markers Involved in Obsessive-­Compulsive Disorder through Behavioral Paradigms of Fear and Anxiety

The main objective of this project is to better understand the pathophysiology of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) using new experimental models to identify predictive factors of response to conventional as well as new treatment alternatives. Instead of investigating OCD from a phenotypic perspective, in this project we will adopt already established behavioral paradigms related to fear and anxiety, which involve specific neuronal networks and brain circuits. Moreover, we will test the impact of psychotherapeutic, pharmacological and neurosurgical interventions on the response to these paradigms. Simultaneously to the paradigms, we will collect pre and post treatment data by means of neuropsychological testing, electroencephalography and neuroimaging, as well as blood peripheral markers. Guided by previous information on the neurocircuits related to these behavioral paradigms, we will evaluate the profile of gene expression and methylation in specific areas of post-mortem brain material of OCD patients. Equivalents of the paradigms will also be run in an animal model for OCD submitted to pharmacological intervention. Brain material from the animals will also be collected and tested for the profile of gene expression and methytilation. We also aim to develop a new statistical model to optimize the analysis of data obtained from different subprojects, aiming to reduce the likelihood of a patient to be submitted to a procedure with low effectiveness.