The Neurorobotics Research Group at the NIH Clinical Center is seeking highly qualified and motivated candidates for a fully funded post-doctoral research position on development of wearable robotic devices for gait training in pediatric populations. The post-doctoral fellow will join an interdisciplinary team of scientists, engineers and clinicians working to evaluate novel technology-based approaches to improve motor function in children with movement disorders. With supervision and support from the PI and other scientists, the post-doctoral fellow will be expected to take a leadership role and work independently in robotic control system development, experimental design, data collection, data analysis and paper publication. The post-doctoral fellow will also be encouraged to develop independent research project(s) that align with the lab’s goals and to develop grant proposals to launch their independent research career. There will be opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration within and outside of NIH. The position will include the following research areas:
  • Preclinical design and implementation of novel control methods for providing robotic assistance during overground and treadmill walking
  • Evaluation of wearable robotics in our motion analysis laboratory to validate system performance, optimize controller design, and assess biomechanical effects and clinical outcomes
The ideal candidate will possess the following qualities:
  • A recently completed PhD in electrical, mechanical, or biomedical engineering or a closely related field
  • Expertise in robotic control approaches and their implementation in embedded electronics or microcontroller environments
  • Experience with robotic devices for clinical human-machine interaction applications, such as rehabilitation robotics, exoskeletons, prosthetics, orthotics, movement augmentation, and/or functional electrical stimulation
  • Experience collecting motion capture and/or other biomechanical measurements from human subjects
  • Expertise in data analysis in Matlab and/or Python software packages
  • Evidence of scholarship, e.g., peer-reviewed publications
The expected start date is January 2022 but is flexible. For more information or to apply, please send a CV with cover letter and the names and contact information of 3 references to Thomas Bulea at thomas.bulea@nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center (NIH CC) is a 200-bed hospital dedicated to clinical research. All care is delivered under active clinical research protocols. The Clinical Center’s mission is scientific discovery: approximately half of the clinical protocols evaluate rare (most often genetically-determined) diseases; the other half are clinical trials of novel interventions. The Neurorobotics Research Group is a newly formed research lab within the Rehabilitation Medicine Department of the NIH CC that develops innovative device-based approaches to treat movement disorders.