Job Board Title:
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Post Date
6/1/2022
Expiration Date
8/30/2022
Details:
HELP UNCOVER ENVIRONMENTAL and GENE-ENVIRONMENTAL CONTRIBUTORS TO SUICIDE DEATH
The Utah Suicide Genetic Research Study (USGRS) is seeking a postdoctoral research fellow with a desire to advance their training in investigating environmental risk factors and gene-environmental interactions for suicide death and related mental health outcomes. The postdoctoral fellow will be embedded in the USGRS- a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary team of researchers located primarily in the Department of Psychiatry and the Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI) at the University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. With over $12 million in federal research funding, the USGRS publishes regularly in high-profile journals, and spans the fields of psychiatric genetics, epigenetics, statistics, epidemiology, clinical research, and ethics. This is a two-year fellowship with the possibility for renewal for an additional year.
The fellow will have access to unprecedented data resources to study the epidemiology of suicide including molecular, individual, familial, contextual and weather and air pollution exposure data from a total population-wide ascertained sample of suicide deaths in Utah. Potential research projects will examine the relationship between suicide risk and mixtures of ambient exposures including weather and air pollutants and how these relationships are moderated by individual, familial, and genetic susceptibilities. Direct supervision and mentorship will be provided by Amanda V. Bakian, PhD and Jim VanDerslice, PhD. The fellow will have additional opportunity to collaborate on projects related to suicide prevention, suicide risk among autistic persons, the contribution of opioids to suicide, suicide in the transgender community, and the use of big data approaches to study suicide.
Motivated, self-directed individuals with an established record of achievement in research and the design and analysis of environmental epidemiological studies are encouraged to apply. Strong quantitative, big data or statistical skills are preferred. Excellent verbal and written communication, organizational, interpersonal, and time-management skills are a must. Proficiency with SAS, R or Matlab software is required.
Responsibilities
The holder of the postdoctoral fellowship will:
1. Request, clean, prepare, and manage datasets for statistical analysis.
2. Co-author project related institutional review board (IRB) and other regulatory documents.
3. Participate in weekly meetings with the project PI Dr. Amanda Bakian, project co-Investigators and members of the USGRS.
4. Design environmental epidemiologic and gene-environment interaction studies for suicide.
5. Analyze environmental epidemiologic and gene-environment interaction studies for suicide.
6. Lead and collaborate on manuscript and grant preparation.
7. Lead and collaborate on abstracts and presentations at local, national, and international conferences.
8. Collaborate on other USGRS related research in areas such as suicide prevention, suicide risk among autistic persons, the contribution of opioids to suicide, suicide in the transgender community, and the use of big data approaches to study suicide.
9. Participate in Huntsman Mental Health and University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine professional development opportunities.
Qualifications:
Strong skills in data and statistical analysis or big data analysis.
Experience with the analysis of administrative, medical and pharmacy claims, environmental exposure measures or similar data.
A PhD in a health-related discipline such as epidemiology, biostatistics, informatics, computer science or related fields but those with a health science doctorate (e.g. MD) with research training and/or experience are also encouraged to apply.
Employer:
Huntsman Mental Health Institute, University of Utah
Contact:
Amanda Bakian, PhD
Address:
383 Colorow Drive, Rm 361
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
Work Phone:
801-213-2881
Email:
amanda.bakian@hsc.utah.edu
Website:
https://employment.utah.edu/salt-lake-city-ut/post-doctoral-fellow-e/6C91D448C544462FA16E7197DC3F2CB0/job/