Postdoctoral Research Fellow

To be considered for this position, please submit all of the following:

1. Your CV
2. A Cover letter describing your research interests and goals
3. 1-2 representative publications or writing samples
4. Contact information for 2-3 references

The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan (UM) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join a dynamic research team led by Lara Coughlin, PhD and Allison Lin, MD, DFASAM. The fellow will play a central role in advancing community-engaged research to improve addiction care delivery, with a particular emphasis on translating evidence-based interventions into real-world practice across large communities.

This position is embedded within the UM Addiction Center’s MI-ACRE program, which focuses on accelerating the implementation of innovative, scalable approaches to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment through partnerships with health systems, community organizations, and policymakers. Ongoing NIH R01/and other federally funded projects focus on enhancing access to contingency management treatment in communities, opioid and stimulant involved polysubstance use and testing a large hub and spoke training and implementation program to support risk reduction care delivery across rural clinics. The position provides an exceptional opportunity to develop expertise in addiction services research, implementation science, and policy evaluation while collaborating with public health policy and health system partners.

Research Focus

The fellow will contribute to and help lead projects at the intersection of:

• Community-engaged and participatory research in addiction care
• Implementation and dissemination of evidence-based SUD interventions, including contingency management (CM) and medication and risk reduction approaches to addiction treatment, hub and spoke models of care, and digital health approaches
• Evaluation and scale-up of CM across clinical and community settings (e.g., Medicaid-funded programs, Opioid Settlement Fund initiatives, and digital/telehealth models)
• Health equity, with attention to underserved and structurally marginalized populations
• Policy-relevant research, including Medicaid–supported initiatives
• Mixed-methods approaches to understanding barriers and facilitators to care

Consistent with leading postdoctoral roles, the fellow will have opportunities to both advance funded projects and build an independent line of research.

The fellow will also be integrated into a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary environment across the University of Michigan, including the Addiction Center, longstanding NIAAA T32 fellowship, and Institute for Healthcare and Policy Innovation.

The postdoctoral fellow will:

• Lead and contribute to manuscripts, conference presentations, and grant applications
• Manage and analyze qualitative and/or quantitative data
• Engage directly with community partners (e.g., treatment programs, health systems, state agencies) to co-develop research and implementation strategies, facilitate training and technical assistance, including real-world CM delivery models
• Participate in and help facilitate community engagement activities (e.g., advisory boards, focus groups, community innovation sessions)
• Contribute to the development of policy briefs, toolkits, and other dissemination products for non-academic audiences, particularly related to scaling CM and medication and risk reduction approaches to addiction treatment and other evidence-based practices
• Develop an independent research agenda with strong mentorship and support

• PhD, MD, or equivalent in addiction, psychology, public health, health services research, sociology, public health or a related field
• Demonstrated interest in substance use disorders, implementation science, health policy and/or health equity
• Experience with qualitative, quantitative, and/or mixed-methods research
• Strong writing and analytic skills, with evidence of scholarly productivity
• Interest in community-engaged and policy-relevant research

• Prior experience with contingency management and medication and risk reduction approaches to addiction treatment is a plus but not required

Monday - Friday