Postdoctoral Fellow Position

Description

The Department of Health, Society, and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine Program in Public Health is seeking candidates interested in writing and policy structure for the position of Postdoctoral Fellow. This candidate will be reporting to Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala, focusing on interdisciplinary research group that focuses on exposure to structural racism within families and birth outcomes. The postdoctoral scholar position is a full-time, 12-month position with the possibility of an extension conditional on satisfactory performance.

Background: Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala is the Director of the UCI Program in Public Health and Founding Dean of the future UCI School of Population and Public Health. A renowned researcher and academic administrator with more than 25 years of experience, she holds several leadership roles within the field of public health, at the UCI campus, and at the UC-system level. Motivated by the campus’ commitment to achieving quality in education that is accessible and affordable, Boden-Albala began her tenure with UCI in the summer of 2019. She was intrigued by the large, diverse undergraduate program in public health and was excited by the students’ commitment to healthier communities here and abroad. Equally, she was struck by the staff and faculty’s dedication to the students. Boden-Albala looks forward to mobilizing the entire UCI Public Health community’s commitment towards health equity, social justice, academic excellence and passion for the growth and transition of this program to a world-class school of population and public health.

The postdoctoral candidate will need to have excellent writing skills to compile and assist policy. Additionally, they will perform data management, assist in project organization, mentor graduate students, and collaborate with other team members on various tasks. They will also report findings in research papers for peer-reviewed scientific journals and at scientific conferences.

Qualifications
Successful applicants will have a strong ability to complete work independently, collaborate with others, and excellent writing skills. Applicants should have a strong proficiency in Stata, SAS (knowledge in R is a plus) and a demonstrated aptitude for learning new software is acceptable. We are especially interested in applicants who have experience with advanced structural equation modeling in any statistical software and statistical analysis. Solid knowledge of research principles and a commitment to responsible conduct of research and ethics are
imperative. Applicants must also have strong knowledge of epidemiological methodology, communications skills, both oral and written, as well as the ability to convey technical information to a multidisciplinary team. Demonstrated interest in structural racism and health, experience with birth outcomes and birth records data, and/or experience in administrative data sources (American Community Survey, Census) is preferred. Postdoctoral applicants must have a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in Epidemiology, Sociology, Health Behavior, Health Policy, Statistics, or a related field in addition to a track record of peer-reviewed publication of scholarly work related to their Ph.D. thesis or other research.

Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala’s three active research projects are funded by agencies within the National Institutes of Health with an overarching theme of addressing health disparities among diverse communities. Her research is driving to create an equitable society by tackling social determinants of health that impact access and care.

• The UCLA/UCI Center for Eliminating Cardio-Metabolic Disparities in MultiEthnic Populations (UC END-DISPARITIES) is an inter-institutional collaboration between fellow University of California schools to serve and address disparities in Southern California. Funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, UC END-DISPARITIES is striving to build a multilevel, community-academic partnered center that will examine factors associated with cardiometabolic risk and outcomes. Dr. Boden-Albala and her team also have a subproject within this center called SERVE OC that utilizes community-participatory research strategies to engage Latinx and Vietnamese families in Santa Ana on cardiovascular health.

• The DISCOVERY: Recruitment and Retention Core grant is a collaborative multicomponent award that pools teams of investigators together to target their joint efforts around specific research objectives. Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Dr. Boden-Albala leads the portion of the grant focused on addressing the lack of minority recruitment into neurologic clinical trials even though minority populations are heavily impacted by neurological conditions. By providing culturally and linguistically appropriate training and best practices in working with the community, minority recruitment in neurological clinical trials should increase.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit the following documents through the online job application at: [https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF08191]. The job ID is JPF08191 for the Postdoctoral Fellow position.

Inquiries may be sent to Jessica Rosiles (jrosiles@hs.uci.edu).

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

• Cover Letter

• Statement of Research (Optional)

• Writing Sample - Can use samples from publications or dissertation chapters

• Inclusive Excellence Activities Statement - Statement addressing how past and/or potential contributions to inclusive excellence will advance UCI's Commitment to Inclusive Excellence. See our guidance for writing an inclusive excellence activities statement.
  (Optional)

• Misc / Additional (Optional)

• 3-6 required (contact information only)

The University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.

As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs – With Updated Interim Amendments. All Covered Individuals under the policy must provide proof of receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine Primary Series or, if applicable, submit a request for Exception (based on Medical Exemption, Disability, Religious Objection, and/or Deferral based on pregnancy or recent COVID-19 diagnosis and/or treatment) no later than the applicable deadline. All Covered Individuals must also provide proof of receiving the most recent CDC-recommended COVID-19 booster or properly decline such booster no later than the applicable deadline. New University of California employees should refer to Exhibit 2, Section II.C. of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Vaccination Program Attachment for applicable deadlines. All Covered Individuals must also provide proof of being up-to-date on seasonal influenza vaccination or properly decline such vaccination no later than the applicable deadline. Please refer to the Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Program Attachment. (Capitalized terms in this paragraph are defined in the policy.) Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.