Test Elke Postdoc 'Neuroimaging of the Substantia Nigra in Parkinson's disease'

• Application Deadline: Feb. 27 2026
• Nijmegen
• On-site

Job Description

Job description

This consortium brings together leading institutions across Europe Canada and Israel including Radboud University and Radboudumc (The Netherlands) Sorbonne University (France) McGill University and the University of Montreal (Canada) Macquarie University (Australia) Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Israel) and the University of Lübeck (Germany). (( will be embedded at Radboud University/Radboudumc in Nijmegen working at the intersection of three research groups:

• Systems Neurology (Dr. Rick Helmich) internationally recognized for innovative neuroimaging and neuromodulation studies in Parkinsons disease.
• Prevention of Parkinsons Disease (Dr. Sirwan Darweesh) with unique expertise on prodromal stages of Parkinsons disease e.g. individuals with isolated REM-sleep Behavioural Disorder.
• MR Structural Quantitative Imaging (Dr. José Marques) a leading team in developing advanced quantitative MRI methods for clinical and population-based applications.

This unique environment offers access to cutting-edge technology large multi-site MRI datasets (multiple sites >1000 patients with early Parkinson 100 people with iRBD with data acquired longitudinally) deep interdisciplinary expertise (data with rich clinical phenotyping) and a collaborative international network with large opportunities for networking. Within this consortium the Nijmegen team will focus on the analysis of quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) MRI data to measure iron-sensitive (longitudinal) structural changes in the substantia nigra of people with prodromal (iRBD) and symptomatic Parkinsons disease. To this end data from all international partners will be used.

Tasks and responsibilities
In this role you will take a leading part in developing and deploying quantitative MRI biomarkers of nigral degeneration. Your responsibilities include:

• Develop and implement longitudinal QSM analysis methods that fully exploit multi-time-point data.
• Build fast visual quality-control tools using BIDScoin for efficient curation of multi-site datasets.
• Create alternative R2* and QSM-based biomarkers of nigral dysfunction using robust substantia nigra segmentation.
• Develop advanced normative modelling approaches to account for population and inter-site variability.
• Coordinate with other work-package leaders to align biomarker extraction across diffusion neuromelanin and QSM imaging and coordinate data transfer between sites.
• Maintain reproducible open and FAIR-compliant analysis workflows throughout the project.

Place of work

The Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (DCCN) is a top scientific institute that forms an integral part of the broader Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University. The mission of the DCCN is to conduct cutting-edge fundamental research in cognitive neuroscience. Much of the rapid progress in this field is being driven by the development of complex neuroimaging techniques for measuring activity in the human brain an area in which the DCCN plays a leading role.

In addition to its strong methodological focus the DCCN fosters close collaboration between researchers from diverse disciplines including neuroscience psychology physics and computer science. This interdisciplinary environment enables innovative approaches to understanding brain function and supports the development of new analytical tools and experimental paradigms.

The DCCN also aims to establish how the different brain areas coordinate their activity with very high temporal precision to enable human and animal cognition. The DCCN is equipped with 4 MRI scanners (1 7T 2 3T) a 275-channel MEG system an EEG-TMS laboratory several MR-compatible EEG systems equipment for transcranial direct/alternating/magnetic stimulation and high-performance computational facilities. An MRI-compatible system for neuromodulation using transcranial ultrasound stimulation is currently being installed and piloted in collaboration with teams at the Donders Centre for Cognition.

Our internationally renowned centre currently hosts more than 100 PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers from more than 25 countries offering a stimulating and multidisciplinary research environment.