"Post-Doctoral Fellow - Dept. of Epidemiology"

Job Details

The School of Public Health’s department of Epidemiology is offering an exciting Post-Doctoral role supporting work in cutting-edge research on menopause and cardiovascular disease (CVD), while gaining hands-on experience coordinating clinical trials and analyzing data from large cohort studies.

Incoming Chair of Epidemiology, Dr. Samar El Khoudary, will supervise and mentor in the implementation of a newly funded clinical trial and contributing data analysis from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) – the largest and longest running study of its kind.

Dr. El Khoudary is an internationally recognized cardiovascular and women’s health epidemiologist with research focused on identifying the menopause transition as a critical period of accelerated cardiometabolic aging, with key contributions to hormone, lipid, adiposity, vascular, and cognitive outcomes. She is seeking a highly motivated fellow to work closely with her dynamic team in this important work.

Position Responsibilities:

• Coordinate and oversee daily clinical trial operations, including participant visits, regulatory compliance, IRB submissions, and documentation.
• Serve as liaison between the clinical team and data management team, supporting study planning, recruitment, protocol implementation, and troubleshooting.
• Assist the clinical team in direct participant interactions and may receive training in specialized procedures (e.g., ultrasound measures).
• Support data quality assurance, database management, and contribute to study reports and regulatory submissions.
• Lead statistical analysis for main manuscript and other ongoing writing groups from SWAN cohort.
• Collaborate on manuscript preparation, abstract submissions, and development of grant proposals leveraging study data.

Training & Development Opportunities:

• Gain hands-on experience in clinical trial coordination and regulatory operations.
• Learn best practices in longitudinal data collection, data integrity, and team-based research.
• Receive structured mentorship in publishing, grant writing, and academic leadership.
• Build a strong foundation for an independent research career in women’s health, aging, or preventive cardiology.
• Develop technical skills in ultrasound measurements and cardiovascular imaging (if desired).
• Opportunity to lead projects within the SWAN cohort using data collected over more than 25 years under the supervision of Dr. El Khoudary.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD or equivalent in epidemiology or a related field or MD with MPH training.
• Strong statistical analysis (longitudinal and survival modeling in particular)/data management skills and experience with R, SAS, or STATA.
• Experience with or interest in clinical trial operations, data coordination, or regulatory affairs.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and multitasking skills; team-oriented mindset.
• Demonstrated interest in women’s health, cardiovascular disease, or aging.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with REDCap is a plus.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, interdisciplinary environment.
• Eager to take initiative and grow in both clinical and analytic domains.
• Interest in contributing to publications and grants based on ongoing studies.

This is a restricted position with no set end date and continued employment is dependent upon project need, availability of funding, and performance.

ORP Eligible: Yes

VCU is committed to hiring veterans! VCU will include a veteran's period(s) of military service in the calculation of their annual leave accrual rate. This may provide veterans with an increased leave accrual!

Salary Range: $70,000 - $75,000

Position Details:

Department:
Employment Type: PD - Post Doc
Restricted Status: Yes
FTE: 1.0
Exemption Status: Exempt