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 report to Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala, and work within interdisciplinary research group that focuses on cardio- and cerebrovascular health outcomes within multiethnic communities and utilizes community-engaged research principles. The postdoctoral scholar position is a full-time, 2-year 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 the cardio- or cerebrovascular health of multiethnic communities, experience with community-engaged research, and/or experience in data records and 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 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 Cardiometabolic Disparities in Multi-Ethnic Populations (UC END -DISPARITIES) is an inter-institutional collaboration to address cardiometabolic health disparities in Southern California. Funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. UC END -DISPARITIES is a multilevel, community-academic partnered center that examines factors associated with cardiometabolic risk and outcomes. Dr. Boden-Albala is MPI of the center’s administrative core and also leads an R01 research project within the center called Skills-based Educational Strategies for the Reduction of Vascular Events in Orange County (SERVE OC). SERVE OC utilizes community-based 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/JPF08339]. The job ID is JPF08339 for the Postdoctoral Fellow position.

1. Cover letter
2. Curriculum Vitae
3. Research Statement (1-2 pages, single spaces)
4. Writing sample (publications or dissertation chapters)
5. Names and contact information for three references

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