"Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Maternal Health"

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Maternal Health

Company: Harvard University

Job Location: Cambridge, 02138

Category: Public and Environmental Health

Type: Full-Time

School: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Department/Area: Social & Behavioral Sciences

Position Description

The Harvard School of Public Health is seeking a postdoctoral fellow in maternal health.

The MCH Public Health Academic Pipeline Program in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) invites applications for a full-time postdoctoral training fellowship. The earliest start date for the fellowship will be January 2, 2026, with initial appointment for one year and reappointment for a second-year contingent on satisfactory performance.

As one of 13 Centers of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health (MCH) in the U.S., funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Harvard draws on its tradition of excellence to train future leaders in the field. Housed within the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, our Center provides academic, research, and service-learning opportunities to public health students, researchers, and practitioners whose mission is to improve the lives of mothers, children, and families. The CoE-MCH, led by Dr. Tiemeier, seeks to be a leader in maternal and child health by conducting cutting-edge research, building public health capacity, fostering health equity, and developing academic excellence. A central aim of Academic Pipeline Program is to recruit and supporting the academic career development of postdoctoral fellows. As part of this program MCHB and HSPH are committed to establish a tenure track position in MCH during the 5-year funding period.

Possible mentors include Drs. David Williams and Margaret McConnell, who lead several research projects related to maternal health including work in health equity, endometriosis, maternal mortality, and behavioral economics. They run projects in the US on maternal health (including in Mississippi, Kansas, South Carolina and Massachusetts). Their work includes both primary and secondary data analysis and bridges the fields of sociology, epidemiology, economics and public health. Mentorship by other HSPH faculty is possible. Other areas of maternal health such as preconception health, fertility, perinatal pharmaco-epidemiology, post-partum contraception, and improving the quality of health care delivery are also of interest to the Center.

We are seeking a highly motivated and capable post-doctoral fellow to pursue innovative analyses with the potential for high policy impact. The Center focusses on quantitative studies and data from cohorts, field trials, household surveys, and health facility assessments is available. The successful candidate will publish research papers, develop and extend skills in developing study protocols, drafting proposals, designing research instruments, creating analytical frameworks. Course work such as in causal inference or implementation science will be encouraged.

Basic Qualifications

Applicants should have a PhD or equivalent in epidemiology, economics, public health, health policy and/or management, public policy or a related field.

Candidates should also have the following:

1. strong quantitative and analytical skills;
2. research experience;
3. high-level interpersonal and organizational skills and
4. demonstrated ability to work independently.

Additional Qualifications

Training in (aspects of) both economics and public health is desirable.

Special Instructions

Applications will be considered as they arrive.

Please note that letters of recommendation will be ONLY required for short-listed candidates.

Contact Information

For technical questions re: application platform or the process, please contact Monika Szperka at mszperka@hsph.harvard.edu.

For questions re: position please email Drs. Margaret McConnell (mmcconne@hsph.harvard.edu) and Henning Tiemeier (tiemeier@hsph.harvard.edu).

Contact Email: mszperka@hsph.harvard.edu

Salary Range

$65,000-73,000 based on qualifications and experience

Minimum Number of References Required: 2

Maximum Number of References Allowed: 2