We are looking for driven scientists at all levels of experience to join the Bowers WBHI team. See below for current job openings.

Open Positions

University of California Santa Barbara
Jacobs Lab, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences

The Jacobs Lab, in conjunction with the Ann S. Bowers Women's Brain Health Initiative, invites applications for a postdoctoral position in women’s brain health research across the lifespan.

The successful candidate will focus on neurobiological changes during adolescence, pregnancy, and/or menopause. Applicants must have demonstrated expertise in MRI acquisition and analysis. The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to ongoing projects, as well as develop independent lines of inquiry within a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment.

Candidates should hold a Ph.D. in neuroscience, psychology, or a related field and demonstrate a strong commitment to advancing women’s health research.

Interested parties are encouraged to send their CVs to info@wbhi.ucsb.edu.

Position description

The Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI) seeks a dynamic and collaborative leader to serve as Director of Community Partnerships and Participant Experience. This position will establish and lead a comprehensive strategy for community partnership, participant engagement, and public education across a multi-site women's brain health research network.

The Director will cultivate trusted relationships with participants, community organizations, healthcare providers, advocacy groups, and local stakeholders to ensure that research is informed by the voices and experiences of the communities it seeks to serve. Through community-engaged research practices, educational programming, and participant-centered initiatives, the Director will help advance equitable participation in scientific research while strengthening the public impact of the Initiative's discoveries.

A central responsibility of this position is fostering meaningful, bidirectional communication between researchers and communities. The Director will oversee a Community Advisory Board (CAB) that provides guidance on ethical and equitable recruitment practices, community engagement strategies, participant protections, and culturally responsive research implementation. The Director will also lead a Participant Advisory Board (PAB) that advises on study acceptability, participant experience, barriers to participation, and opportunities to improve engagement throughout the research process.

The Director will develop and coordinate participant-centered programming designed to foster trust, transparency, and long-term engagement. This includes annual virtual events that connect participants across study sites, as well as biannual in-person gatherings led by local Participant Advisory Boards. These events will provide dedicated spaces for community connection, shared learning, and open dialogue around women's health and menopause experiences while strengthening participants' connection to the scientific mission of the Initiative.

In partnership with investigators across the research network, the Director will ensure that community perspectives inform participant recruitment, study implementation, dissemination of findings, and the overall participant experience. The Director will also lead efforts to communicate scientific discoveries back to participants and community partners in accessible and meaningful ways.

The Director will provide strategic leadership for the Initiative's participant engagement infrastructure, supervising research associates including a Recruitment Manager and Central Call Center Coordinator. Together, this team will develop harmonized recruitment and retention strategies, evaluate outreach effectiveness, build partnerships with community organizations and service agencies, and identify innovative approaches to engage historically underserved and harder-to-reach populations.

Key Responsibilities

  • Develop and implement a comprehensive community engagement and participant experience strategy across multiple study sites.
  • Establish and sustain partnerships with community organizations, healthcare providers, advocacy groups, and public agencies.
  • Lead and facilitate Community Advisory Board and Participant Advisory Board activities.
  • Design participant-centered educational and engagement programs that foster trust, transparency, and long-term involvement in research.
  • Supervise community engagement, recruitment, and participant communications personnel.
  • Collaborate with investigators to ensure community perspectives are integrated throughout the research lifecycle.
  • Develop public-facing communications and educational initiatives that translate scientific discoveries for participants and community audiences.
  • Evaluate engagement, recruitment, and retention efforts using data-driven approaches and continuous quality improvement.
  • Promote best practices in community-engaged and participant-centered research across the Initiative.

Position overview

Salary range: A reasonable estimate that the University expects to pay for this position at 100% is $92,330 to $164,103 annually.
Percent time: 100%
Anticipated start: July 15, 2026 or later
Position duration: This will be a one-year position with a comprehensive benefits package with the possibility of renewal. Continuation beyond one year will be based on performance and availability of funding.

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

Master's degree or higher in education, public health, social sciences, community psychology, health communication, social work, or a related field.

Additional qualifications (required at time of start)

At least one year of demonstrated experience leading community engagement, outreach, educational, or stakeholder partnership initiatives.
At least one year of experience convening and facilitating advisory boards, community coalitions, or participatory engagement efforts.

Preferred qualifications

-Strong program development, project management, and organizational leadership skills.
-Experience designing and evaluating educational programs, workshops, or community initiatives.
-Exceptional interpersonal, communication, and facilitation skills.
-Commitment to ethical community-engaged research.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

  • Cover Letter

Reference requirements
  • 3 required (contact information only)

Applicants that are chosen for an interview will have their references contacted after the interview

Apply link: https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF03122

Help contact: pamelawilks@ucsb.edu

About UC Santa Barbara

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct.

Additionally, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs, as may be amended or revised from time to time. Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

Job location

Santa Barbara, CA
 

Position Description

The Translational Reproductive Neuropsychiatry and Data Science (TReNDS) Lab is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to advance research on maternal brain plasticity and risk for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. The postdoctoral fellow will work on projects including MatMap, a large-scale study leveraging >5,000 clinically-acquired brain MRI scans and electronic health record data to map brain changes across pregnancy and the postpartum, and PMADS, a longitudinal maternal brain mapping study using multimodal MRI and deep phenotyping. This position is ideal for a candidate interested in perinatal neuroimaging, clinical data science, precision functional mapping, reproductive psychiatry, machine learning, and multimodal approaches to understanding the brain across pregnancy and the postpartum period. 

Responsibilities

  • Lead analyses of neuroimaging and clinical data from perinatal imaging studies.
  • Supervise and mentor research assistants and students involved in related projects.
  • Develop models perinatal brain trajectories, with a focus on identifying normative trajectories and deviations associated with psychiatric risk.
  • Prepare manuscripts for publication and present findings at national and international conferences.
  • Participate in study design and the development of new research directions within the lab.
  • Contribute to a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive research environment.

Minimum Qualifications

  • PhD, MD/PhD, or equivalent doctoral degree in neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, biomedical engineering, biostatistics, computer science, or a related field.
  • Strong quantitative, analytic, and written communication skills.
  • Demonstrated interest in neuroscience, women’s mental health, reproductive psychiatry, or neuroendocrine transitions.
  • Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary research team.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Strong publication record in human neuroimaging, clinical neuroscience, computational psychiatry, maternal brain health, or a related field.
  • Experience with MRI preprocessing and analysis tools such as fMRIPrep, XCP-D, FreeSurfer, AFNI, SPM, or related software.
  • Proficiency in Python, R, MATLAB, shell scripting, or related programming environment.
  • Strong organizational and leadership skills, including experience mentoring research assistants, students, or junior trainees.

Start Date

The ideal start date is July 1st, 2026 although the start date is flexible.

Location

The position will be based in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Hybrid work arrangements may be possible depending on project needs and institutional policies.

Salary and Benefits

Salary will be commensurate with experience and institutional guidelines. The anticipated salary range for this position is $68,000–$85,000, depending on years of postdoctoral experience and fellowship funding. A summary of benefits is available through the University of Pennsylvania Human Resources website. 

Application link.

Position Description

The Translational Reproductive Neuropsychiatry and Data Science Lab is part of the Department of Psychiatry, the Neurodevelopment & Psychosis Section, and the Lifespan Brain Institute (LiBI). Our goal is to personalize early interventions in reproductive psychiatry. To do this, we use non-invasive neuroimaging and advanced computational methods to understand mechanisms underlying sex differences in psychopathology and identify neuroendocrinologic markers of risk vs. resilience for psychiatric disorders. The Neuroimaging Data Analyst Junior will provide support for managing and analyzing data.

Neuroimaging Data Analyst Junior

The Neuroimaging Data Analyst Junior provides support for managing and analyzing neuroimaging data.  Analysts play a central role on large-scale projects that seek to understand sex differences in brain development and the biological basis of hormonally-driven psychiatric symptoms such as perinatal depression.  Within these projects, they work in a team environment with a diverse, multi-disciplinary group of faculty and trainees from psychiatry, psychology engineering, statistics, and computer science.  Primary responsibilities include management, processing, and analysis of high-dimensional imaging data.   Additional responsibilities will be assigned based on the successful candidate's skills and interests. All analysts additionally lead independent projects (i.e., meta-analyses of neuroimaging studies) where they write first-author manuscripts.  

Qualifications

The ideal candidate has a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Statistics, or Computer Science, 0-1 years of research experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is required. To succeed in the highly collaborative environment, excellent interpersonal and communication skills are required.  Program and data analysis skills are strongly preferred, including Python, linux/bash, and R.  Experience with machine learning, clinically-acquired neuroimaging, neuroimaging tools (SPM, AFNI, FSL), and Epic databases (Clarity, databricks, Caboodle) is strongly preferred but not required.

Background check required. Position contingent on funding.

Job Location - City, State
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department/School
Perelman School of Medicine

Pay Range
$26.66 - $33.00 Hourly Rate

Salary offers are made based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, and in alignment with salary ranges based on external market data for the job’s level. Internal organization and peer data at Penn are also considered.

Application link.