"Postdoctoral Associate in Health Systems Engineering"

Posted: 20-Dec-25

Location: Ithaca, New York

Type: Full-time

Categories: Academic/Faculty

Internal Number: 3-102518

Postdoctoral Associate in Health Systems Engineering

Cornell University's Center for Transportation, Environment, and Community Health (CTECH)--a U.S. Department of Transportation Tier 1 University Transportation Research Center dedicated to advancing sustainable technology-enabled mobility for public and planetary health--located in Ithaca, NY, invites applications for a Postdoctoral Associate in Health Systems Engineering (Health Systems Data Analysis, Modeling, Computing, and Cloud-Based Health Systems Analytics and Decision Support Platforms) as part of the CTECH Postdoctoral Fellows program.

This position offers the unique opportunity to conduct deeply interdisciplinary research spanning engineering systems, health informatics, clinical operations, data science, and decision support, contributing to the emerging research frontier of healthcare systems engineering. The Fellow will be jointly mentored by faculty from Cornell Engineering and Weill Cornell Medicine and will engage in research that advances methodological innovation while addressing real challenges in healthcare delivery.

Position Overview

The Postdoctoral Associate will contribute to research at the intersection of:

• Health systems engineering and systems architecting
• AI/ML-driven clinical and operational decision support
• Digital health and learning health systems
• Healthcare operations, resource allocation, and workflow optimization
• Network, graph, and agent-based modeling for care delivery
• Health equity, patient access, and system resilience
• Multi-modal data integration using EHR, claims, environmental, and behavioral datasets

The successful candidate will work with interdisciplinary teams of engineers, health informaticians, clinicians, data scientists, and behavioral scientists from Cornell Engineering and Weill Cornell Medicine. The role includes opportunities to collaborate with New York Presbyterian Hospital, hospital operations teams, and partners in the digital health and health delivery ecosystem.

Research Responsibilities

Responsibilities will vary depending on the Fellow's background, but may include:

• Developing machine learning, optimization, or simulation models to improve clinical operations and resource allocation
• Advancing systems engineering methods for health delivery design, evaluation, and transformation
• Designing and implementing agent-based, network, or graph models to study patient flow, care pathways, and population-level outcomes
• Creating data-driven and privacy-aware decision-support tools for clinicians, administrators, or patients
• Integrating multi-source, high-dimensional datasets (EHR, claims, environmental/socioeconomic data, sensor data)
• Contributing to translational research that tightens the loop between engineering innovation and clinical practice
• Disseminating findings through high-impact journals, conferences, and stakeholder engagements

The Fellow will be encouraged and mentored to establish an independent research trajectory and develop skills necessary for a future faculty or research leadership career.

Methodological Areas of Interest

Applicants with experience in the following areas are especially encouraged to apply:

• Optimization (deterministic, stochastic, robust, reinforcement learning-based)
• Systems architecture and design for complex socio-technical systems
• Graph theory, network science, and knowledge representation
• Agent-based and simulation modeling
• AI/ML, foundation models, causal inference, and predictive analytics
• Human factors, behavior science, and patient-centered design
• Advanced computing and scalable algorithms
• Decision science and learning health systems design

Qualifications

Required:

• Ph.D. in Systems Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, Computer Science, Biomedical Informatics, Health Information Technology, or a related field
• Evidence of high-quality research productivity (publications, presentations, software, system prototypes)
• Strong analytical and computational skills (e.g., Python, R; simulation or optimization tools)
• Experience working with real-world datasets, ideally including clinical, operational, or health-related data
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to interact with multidisciplinary collaborators

Preferred:

• Research experience with EHR, claims, or clinical workflow data
• Experience with healthcare operations, health policy analysis, clinical decision support, or translational informatics
• Background in systems engineering modeling applied to human-centered or safety-critical environments
• Interest in preparing for a career as a faculty member or research leader in engineering, informatics, public health, or health systems science

Through this website, applicants are to submit a cover letter describing research interests and how their expertise fits this position, curriculum vitae that includes a complete list of publications, a research statement on future research interests and directions, and career goals, etc. (3-page maximum, single space), graduate transcripts, three publications relevant to the topic and provide contact information for at least three references.

Pay Range: $62,232.00 - $88,745.00