The newly established Silva lab is seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to study midline thalamic circuits in fear memory and fear extinction in the mouse.

The Silva lab combines whole-brain functional tracing, chemogenetics, optogenetics and in vivo fiber photometry to investigate thalamic circuits involved in emotional regulation. We recently discovered that the nucleus reuniens of the thalamus mediates extinction of remote (older than 30 days) fear memories (Silva et al. Nat. Neurosci. 2021) and we are currently working to unravel its functional upstream and downstream partners. The successful candidate will design and implement experiments to elucidate and characterize the NRe-centered whole-brain circuit and identify its putative neurophysiological impairments in mouse models of PTSD. Experience with behavioral studies, stereotactic surgeries, programming, whole-brain microscopy or causal neuroscience is a plus, but is not required. The successful candidate should be highly motivated and have the ability to successfully lead a research project.
The Silva lab is affiliated to the Institute of Neuroscience at the National Research Council of Italy and is located at the Neurocenter of the Humanitas Research Hospital in Rozzano, MI (https://www.humanitas-research.org/).
Applicants should contact Bianca Silva (bianca.silva@in.cnr.it) with a current CV and a motivation letter.
The position is full-time for 1 year, and renewable for other two. The position is immediately available and is funded by a 3-year grant by Cariplo Foundation. Within the first year, application to prestigious international postdoctoral fellowships (EMBO, Marie Curie, HFSP) is highly encouraged. Selected candidates will be directly contacted for interviews. After interview two reference letters will be requested.