Postdoctoral Scholar- Global WACh
Position Overview
Organization: Global Health- SPH
Title: Postdoctoral Scholar- Global WACh
Position Details
Position Description
The Department of Global Health was established in 2007, bridging the schools of Medicine and Public Health, with a mandate to harness the expertise and interdisciplinary power of all UW schools and colleges. Our mission is to improve health for all through research, education, training, and service; to understand and address the causes of disease and health inequities at multiple levels; and to collaborate with partners to develop and sustain locally led, quality health systems, programs and policies. Driven by tremendous interest among both students and faculty, the Department has grown explosively to more than 400 graduate students and hundreds more undergraduates. We have more than 380 faculty and 1,000 staff working on projects across 130 countries with our deepest ties in United States, Kenya, Uganda, Peru, Mozambique, India, South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua. At the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington, diversity is integral to excellence. The Department recognizes that disparities in health around the globe stem from inequity. The Department encourages and supports the multiple identities of staff, faculty and students including, but not limited to, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, culture, spiritual practice, geography, mental and physical disability and age. The Department strives to become a local, national, and international leader in developing and maintaining increased representation and recognition of each of these dimensions of diversity among its faculty, staff, and students.
This position will sit in the Global Center for the Integrated Health of Women, Adolescents, and Children (Global WACh) that is based in the University of Washington Departments of Global Health, Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Pediatrics. Our mission is to make scientific discoveries, cultivate leaders, and bridge disciplines to advance the tightly connected health and well-being of women, adolescents and children. Global WACh brings together expertise in maternal health from the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology, neonatal and child health expertise from the Department of Pediatrics, and vast experience working in infectious disease, health metrics and evaluation, education, clinical research, and service delivery within the Department of Global Health. These disciplines combine under a methodology that views women, children, and adolescents as three populations interconnected along a shared life course.
Position purpose and complexities
The Global WACh Gut Health and Child Survival team has an excellent opportunity for two Postdoctoral Scholars. The positions will play a leading role in pediatric studies on gut health and malnutrition in Kenya alongside investigators at the Kenya Medical Research Institute. One study is a four-arm randomized controlled clinical trial testing the effect of breast-milk derived nutrition supplements on nutritional recovery following diarrhea. For this study, the Postdoctoral Scholar will help coordinate this trial, including designing data collection instruments, standard operating procedures, and quality and data management plans in collaboration with the Kenya-based study coordinator and investigative Kenya. The second study is a prospective cohort study evaluating the association between breast milk oligosaccharides and the gut microbiome on infant growth for which the Postdoctoral Scholar will conduct data analyses, manuscript writing, and supplementary grant preparation. The Postdoctoral Scholars may support analyses and manuscript writing on multiple other studies.
The ideal candidate is someone with experience in infectious disease epidemiology, study implementation, and statistical analysis with a desire to grow their skills in randomized controlled trials, leadership, grant writing, and analysis of longitudinal data. Through this position, the Postdoctoral Scholar will have opportunities to work directly with epidemiologists, pediatricians, and implementation scientists at Kenya Medical Research Institute, Global WACh, and Seattle Children’s as well as serve as a mentor to students in these fields.
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:
A successful candidate will help lead studies, produce, critique and disseminate results; will be capable of managing projects to meet deadlines and research objectives; has experience with project management, the publication process and grant writing and is capable of working on multiple projects concurrently while meeting deadlines. Anticipated start date is November 2021.
Study Leadership and Coordination (50% FTE)
- Provide scientific guidance and decision-making support to Seattle and Kenya-based research coordinators and data managers.
- Participate in the study coordination calls and follow-up on action items
- Make recommendations to the principal investigators on critical scientific decisions.
- Coordinate scientific advisory committee meetings
- Prepare study progress reports
- Co-create randomized clinical trial documents including standard operating procedures, case report forms, quality management plans, training materials, and data systems.
- Participate in grant writing and assist students with grant writing.
- Participate in group leadership calls.
Data Analysis (25% FTE)
- Develop statistical analysis plans
- Independently carry out quantitative and/or mixed-methods analyses related to pediatric infectious disease clinical epidemiology research
- Support junior investigators (PhD students, recent MPH graduates/candidates, staff) in designing and interpreting data analyses and manuscript preparation.
- Participate as co-author on manuscripts, including study protocol papers.
Career Development (20% FTE)
- Pursue independent research interests (manuscript/grant writing, training courses, etc.), with support of UW or external investigators, and any available support for our center/group.
Other duties as assigned (5%)
Qualifications
- PhD or foreign equivalent in public health, epidemiology, implementation science or related discipline (must be conferred by the appointment start date but not at time of application).
- Excellent analytic, critical thinking, and quantitative skills.
- Experience coordinating international research studies, including case report forms (CRF) and standard operating procedures (SOP) development with a multidisciplinary team.
- Evidence of a commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace.
- Results and detail-oriented individual that can initiate and complete tasks under tight deadlines and changing priorities both independently and in a team environment. Flexibility with hours and workload is key.
- Experience designing and executing statistical analysis plans.
- Demonstrated ability to problem solve.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills required, including track record of success in co-authorship on scientific papers, presenting results, and representing research at meetings.
- Ability to work both independently and in collaboration with a team.
- Willingness to travel and participate in early morning calls.
- Experience with epidemiologic and data science methods and analytic techniques.
- Experience mentoring and developing students on soft and technical skills.
- Experience with project management methods.
- Peer-reviewed publication record.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
- Periodically available for phone calls/meetings in the early morning and late evenings to accommodate worldwide time differences.
- Deadline-driven environment, occasionally requiring extended hours.
Instructions
Applicants should submit the following via Interfolio:
1. A curriculum vitae
2. A brief statement (500-word limit) outlining research interests
3. One letter of recommendation
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, gender identity or expression, age, disability, or protected veteran status.
Commitment to Diversity
The University of Washington is committed to building diversity among its faculty, librarian, staff, and student communities, and articulates that commitment in the UW Diversity Blueprint (http://www.washington.edu/diversity/diversity-blueprint/). Additionally, the University’s Faculty Code recognizes faculty efforts in research, teaching and/or service that address diversity and equal opportunity as important contributions to a faculty member’s academic profile and responsibilities (https://www.washington.edu/admin/rules/policies/FCG/FCCH24.html#2432).
COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements and Information
Under Washington State Governor Inslee’s Proclamation 21-14.1, University of Washington (UW) workers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof thereof, or receive a UW-approved medical or religious exemption. This requirement will be a condition of any offer associated with this recruitment. For more information, please visit https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/vaccination-requirement/.