Research Assistant Professor in Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences

Job Description: The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) College of Health Sciences invites applications for a full-time Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy & Movement Sciences. This is a 12-month appointment with three years of guaranteed salary support, designed to be part of an interdisciplinary research program focused on trauma-induced neuroinflammation and maladaptive neuroplasticity. The successful candidate will contribute to mechanistic and translational studies examining how physical and psychological trauma (e.g., traumatic brain injury, vascular insults, chronic stress, PTSD) initiate inflammatory cascades that disrupt adaptive brain plasticity. Applicants with expertise in human-subjects research related to trauma, neurophysiology, neuroinflammation, neuroimaging, and/or neuromodulation are encouraged to apply. Candidates with complementary strengths in cellular and molecular models of neuroinflammation, including cell culture systems, in vitro screening of small molecules, and toxicity studies, are also encouraged particularly where such approaches inform human-relevant translation. The position is embedded within externally funded research programs in the laboratories of Drs. Shashwati Geed and Alvaro N. Gurovich, with collaborative engagement across trauma-, vascular-, and behavior-focused investigators. The candidate will work in an established translational research environment integrating biological markers, neurophysiological measures, and functional outcomes, supported by active collaborations with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for multi-omic analyses (e.g., transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic profiling) and access to advanced computational infrastructure. Job responsibilities focus primarily on scholarly activity (e.g., grant writing, manuscript publications, and conference presentations), with an anticipated appointment date