We are offering two post-doc positions on the newly installed MR-PET scanner in CERMEP

 “LILI – Lyon Integrated Life Imaging: hybrid MRI-PET” Project; Lyon, France

January 2015 for 18 months

Gross salary ~30-42 k?/year (depending on experience), funded by the Brain and Mental Health Institute (“CESAME” project)

Context: 

Truly hybrid MRI-PET imaging will enable the simultaneous acquisition of functional information by PET, and structural as well as functional information by MRI. The two modalities are complementary: PET offers unparalleled sensitivity to molecular events, while MRI offers high soft-tissue contrast and various types of information (diffusion, blood flow, tractography, spectroscopy). Simultaneous acquisition is crucial for understanding many aspects of physiological functions.

 Environment:

France’s first MRI-PET, a Siemens Biograph mMR, has just been installed at Lyon’s multimodal research imaging centre, the CERMEP. Funding for the MRI-PET project is provided largely through the competitively funded “Lyon Integrated Life Imaging: hybrid MRI-PET” (LILI) project (ranked first ex aequo out of 270 projects in a French government initiative), with major contributions by Lyon’s newly created Brain and Mental Health institute (CESAME institute), Lyon’s university hospitals (HCL), and through a scientific partnership with the manufacturer.

LILI is organized around a core group of excellently evaluated research teams. They provide an environment with the multidisciplinary skills needed for reliable and rapid development of MRI-PET imaging including MR physics, multimodal image analysis, radiotracer and contrast agent design and production, pharmacology, PET imaging and modelling, preclinical and clinical experimentation. 

Methodological developments specific to this new hybrid imaging modality have been identified and will be pursued in close collaboration with Siemens. 

The successful candidate will join a growing team of MRI-PET methodologists at the CERMEP.

First position  

Image-based arterial input function for PET quantification in simultaneous MRI-PET: Methodology and application for functional brain imaging studies

The position: 

The successful candidate will develop methods for absolute quantification in PET. This includes modelling using image-based input functions, image segmentation to improve the localization of the arteries in the PET images, and partial volume correction if necessary. The candidate will also be encouraged to share his/her own expertise in advanced neuroimaging methods such as functional MRI, perfusion MRI, PET kinetic modelling and accompany the start-up of the MRI-PET system. The methodological developments will be applied to brain pathologies such as epilepsy and psychiatric diseases. 

The candidate: 

The candidate should have a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in physics, engineering, computer science, biomedical engineering, or a related discipline. She/he should have a strong MRI and/or PET background and the curiosity to explore the other technique to develop new methods inventively combining these two modalities. Experience with advanced imaging software, as well as a background in PET kinetic modelling and programming (e.g. C, C++, Matlab) will also be considered as an advantage. Equal opportunity policies will be respected.

Second position

PET reconstruction method development using MR information for quantitative brain imaging with a simultaneous MRI-PET scanner

The position: 

The successful candidate will follow the start-up of the MRI-PET system. Within the team, she/he will be responsible for the development of innovative methods for quantifying brain PET acquisitions with the simultaneous PET-MRI scanner. The candidate will develop his/her own research in domains including incorporating priors from anatomical information from (segmented) MRI into the PET image reconstruction; fine-tuning tissue segmentation and reconstruction parameters by including partial volume correction motion correction, and kinetic modelling. This will be expected to lead to bias reduction, resolution enhancement, and noise reduction. Simulations, preclinical and clinical experimental data will be employed to formally validate methodological developments.

The candidate: 

The candidate should have a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in physics, engineering, computer science,biomedical engineering, or a related discipline. She/he should have a strong MRI and/or PET background and the curiosity to explore the other technique to develop new methods inventively combining these two modalities. Experience with advanced imaging quantification method development, as well as programming knowledge (e.g. C, C++, Matlab) are required. A background in PET kinetic modelling will be considered as an advantage.. Equal opportunity policies will be respected.

How to apply 

 Applications, including a CV detailing previous experience, and a cover letter explaining your suitability for the post, should be sent electronically before October 28^th 2014 to members of the recruitment committee.

Recruitment committee:

Nicolas Costes costes@cermep.fr

Alexander Hammers alexander.hammers@fondation-neurodis.org

Carole Lartizien carole.lartizien@creatis.insa-lyon.fr

Marjorie Villien villien@cermep.fr

The CERMEP, in collaboration with The Neurodis Foundation are offering a research engineer (post-doc level) position for research and operation on the new MR-PET imaging facility

 

 Research Engineer (post-doc level)

Implementation, operation and development of functional imaging on a simultaneous MRI-PET machine

“LILI – Lyon Integrated Life Imaging: hybrid MRI-PET” Project

Lyon, France

June 2014 for 3 years

Gross salary ~30-35 k?/year, funded by the Brain and Mental Health Institute (“CESAME” project)

Context:

Truly hybrid MRI-PET imaging will enable the acquisition of functional information by PET, and structural as well as functional information by MRI. The two modalities are complementary: PET offers unparalleled sensitivity to molecular events, while MRI offers high soft-tissue contrast and other information (diffusion, blood flow, tractography, spectroscopy). Simultaneous acquisition is crucial for understanding many aspects of physiological functions.

Environment:

France’s first MRI-PET, a Siemens Biograph mMR, will be installed at Lyon’s multimodal research imaging centre, the CERMEP. Funding for the MRI-PET project is provided largely through the competitively funded “Lyon Integrated Life Imaging: hybrid MRI-PET” (LILI) project (ranked first ex aequo out of 270 projects in a French government initiative), with major contributions by Lyon’s newly created Brain and Mental Health institute (CESAME institute), Lyon’s university hospitals (HCL), and through a scientific partnership with the manufacturer.

LILI is organized around a core group of excellently evaluated research teams. They provide an environment with the multidisciplinary skills needed for reliable and rapid development of MRI-PET imaging including MR physics, multimodal image analysis, radiotracer and contrast agent design, pharmacology, PET imaging and modelling, preclinical and clinical experimentation.

Methodological developments specific to this new hybrid imaging modality have been identified and will be pursued in close collaboration with Siemens.

The position:

Funding is provided by the CESAME institute. The successful candidate will join a growing team of MRI-PET methodologists at the CERMEP. Work should start in June 2014, around the time of the machine’s installation.

The successful candidate will prepare and follow the start-up of the MRI-PET system. He/she will participate in the acceptance testing and the design of protocols for simultaneous MRI/PET studies. An important part of his/her work will be to assist scientists and clinicians in research projects carried out on this system, including instrumentation needs for the acquisition of additional data during functional imaging. The candidate will be encouraged to develop his/her own research as well.

The candidate:

You should have a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in physics, engineering, computer science, biomedical engineering, or a related discipline. You should have skills in MRI and/or PET (and be eager to learn about the other modality), and know the architecture of clinical MR systems. Experience with MRI pulse sequence programming is a distinct advantage, as is a good knowledge of and skills in statistics and programming (e.g. C, C++, Matlab). Equal opportunity policies will be respected.

Application and contacts

For more information and an informal discussion, interested candidates should contact the relevant members of the recruitment committee:

LILI/CESAME: Alexander Hammers (alexander.hammers@fondation-neurodis.org; +33472688634)

MRI:                 Olivier Beuf                (olivier.beuf@univ-lyon1.fr; +33 4 72 43 15 97)

CERMEP:           Nicolas Costes           (costes@cermep.fr; +33 4 72 68 86 04)

PET:                  Carole Lartizien          (carole.lartizien@creatis.insa-lyon.fr; +33 4 72 43 81 48)

Applications, including CV and previous experience, should be sent electronically before February 28^th 2014 to all four members of the recruitment committee.

It is our great pleasure to invite you to the 18^th international conference on biomagnetism to be held in Paris, France, from sunday, august 26^th through thursday, august 30^th, 2012. 

The scientific program includes, but is not limited to, technological, methodological, clinical and fundamental research in biomagnetism. this year, we will highlight the quickly growing field of human brain dynamics with 5 keynotes speakers: Maurizio Corbetta, Karl Friston, Anne-Lise Giraud, Christopher Moore, Krish Singh.

The meeting will be held in the beautiful 18^th century hotel de la Rochefoucauld d'Estissac, now a state-of-the-art meeting center (maison de la chimie) a few hundred meters from the eiffel tower, musée d'orsay and saint germain des prés.