Postdoctoral Fellow: Rural Lifestyle Medicine and Cancer Care Delivery

Postdoctoral Fellow: Rural Lifestyle Medicine and Cancer Care Delivery

Department: SOM Department of Population Health
Befort Research

Job Description Summary:

A postdoctoral fellowship is available to enhance rural research capacity in interventional healthcare delivery and lifestyle medicine research, clinical practice change, pragmatic randomized clinical trials, and mixed-methods implementation science. Fellowship will provide the successful candidate with opportunity to engage in mentored research, gaining experience in primary data collection, data analysis (quantitative and qualitative), mixed methods, implementation science, manuscript preparation, knowledge translation and dissemination through clinical community engagement. Designed as a training fellowship, this opportunity is suited to individuals pursuing a career as research faculty.

Under supervision of a Professor in the Department of Population Health and Associate Director of Cancer Prevention and Control, the Fellow will take a primary role in dissemination of findings from 2 NIH-funded clinical trials assessing lifestyle interventions and tele-medicine in rural primary care and community settings. Other opportunities with faculty in the department focused on rural health include design and conduct of an implementation evaluation of novel tele-oncology program in rural Kansas and observational studies involving unique rural risk exposures.

An academic unit within the School of Medicine, the Department of Population Health provides a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment. While our faculty draw from different scholarly disciplines, we share a common goal of remediating health disparities across Kansas and beyond. In addition to a record of partnership with state and regional health authorities, our faculty have long-standing collaborations with many community and clinical partners in both urban and rural locations, providing a rich environment for impactful implementation science and community-engaged research. The Department is the academic home for graduate education leading to the MHSA, MPH, MSCR, and PhD. Opportunities for limited teaching are possible.

The Department is home to the Kansas Implementation Science Center (KCIS), an NIH-funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE). Additional collaborating institutional partners based at KUMC include: University of Kansas Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center; Masonic Cancer Alliance; Kansas Center for Rural Health; NCATS-funded Frontiers Clinical & Translational Institute.

Job Duties Outlined:

Research & Lab Responsibilities

• Conduct research under PI mentorship.
• Design, execute, and analyze studies.
• Collect, manage, and interpret datasets.
• Contribute to protocols, manuals, and regulatory documents.
• Participation as a co-investigator on multi-disciplinary team science
• Collaborate with the PI, faculty, and research teams on project direction and results interpretation.

Scholarly Output & Grant Writing

• Prepare manuscripts, abstracts, posters, and presentations for peer-reviewed journals and scientific meetings.
• Assist in preparing research proposals or other funding submissions.
• Select conference travel to present juried posters or presentations

Professional Development & Mentorship

• Participate in seminars, workshops, and professional development activities.
• Pedagogic opportunities to provide lectures and/or small group teaching.
• Develop and follow an Individual Development Plan (IDP).
• Mentor graduate or undergraduate students, interns, or trainees.
• Present research findings at meetings.

Compliance

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date research records.
• Adhere to IRB, data security, and other compliance policies.
• Attend required departmental and University orientation and training sessions.

Required Qualifications:

Education: PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in population health OR a research-focused social or behavioral science field.

Work Experience: Experience in fieldwork, e.g. in clinical settings, and primary data collection; Experience in quantitative data analysis

Preferred Qualifications:

Work Experience: Experience in implementation science theory, methods, and frameworks; Experience in social service and/or healthcare delivery, especially primary care; Experience in mixed method design and analysis; Experience in being the lead author on published manuscripts; Experience in the conduct of clinical trials; Prior or current credentials for human subject research protections

Skills: Oral and written communication skills

Required Documents:

Resume/CV; Cover Letter