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Postdoctoral Research Associate Cluster Hire in Environmental Health, BUSPH

School of Public Health

Job Description

Postdoctoral Research Associate Cluster Hire in Environmental Health, BUSPH

Position ID: BU -BUSPH -EHPOSTDOC23 [#24487]
Position Title:
Position Type: Postdoctoral
Position Location: Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States [map ]
Subject Areas: Environmental Health / Environmental Toxicology
Climate and Health
Public Health
Appl Deadline: 2023/04/03 11:59PM (posted 2023/03/07, listed until 2023/09/07)
Position Description: Apply
The Department of Environmental Health at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) has a long history and national reputation of interdisciplinary research to address the health effects of environmental exposures. We invite applications for multiple Postdoctoral Research Associate positions in the fields of environmental epidemiology, exposure assessment, data science, and geographical information systems. Postdoctoral Research Associates will have the opportunity to work on one or two projects, joining interdisciplinary teams of faculty, graduate students and research assistants from BUSPH and partner organizations. The positions will be mentored and supervised by up to two Environmental Health faculty, with start dates Spring through Fall 2023.

We are seeking a cohort of Postdoctoral Research Associates to work on the following projects:

Clean air, health, and school sustainability (CHESS). CHESS is a research study collaborating with Boston Public Schools (BPS) to analyze indoor environmental quality data from ~4,500 sensors installed in urban K-12 schools, with the goals of: 1) estimating the impact of building and classroom interventions on IEQ, exposure disparities, health, and energy use, 2) supporting school decision making around policies and investments being made for sustainable, healthy, resilient, and equitable indoor school environments, and 3) engaging the school community to co-create research translation communications. Applicants should have training in data science or advanced statistical methods, exposure assessment, and an interest in research-to-action. (PI: Patricia Fabian).

COVID-19 Community Impact Study (CCIS) Collaborative Project. This project is a partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to design and conduct advanced statistical analyses for the population-based COVID-19 Community Impact Survey (CCIS), which is a broad assessment of pandemic-associated health, economic and social impacts among Massachusetts residents (n=30,000+). CCIS is specifically focused on identifying health disparities experienced by vulnerable populations and applying targeted, evidence-based interventions on the local level. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will work with an interdisciplinary team of BUSPH faculty and MDPH staff to analyze relationships between social, occupational and environmental determinants of health and multiple endpoints within CCIS. This individual may support MDPH efforts to translate research findings to a community audience. Applicants should have strong training in advanced biostatistical and epidemiologic methods and data visualizations with an interest in health equity and research-to-action. (PI: Jessica Leibler)

Transportation Noise and Health. This position relates primarily to the ASCENT Cardiovascular Disease and Aircraft Noise Exposures project but may include an NIH project on Assessment of Environmental and Neighborhood-level Risk Factors for Subfertility among Black Women in the U.S. The projects involve multi-university and government collaborators and focus on associations between aircraft and other transportation noise exposures and cardiovascular, mental health and reproductive outcomes. Applicants should have strong training and experience in advanced epidemiology and biostatistics, training in GIS/spatial analysis and an interest in participating in noise exposure assessment. Demonstration of publishing potential such as prior lead authorship a plus. (PI: Junenette Peters) Community Measurements of Aviation Emission Contribution to Ambient Air Quality. This is a long-term multidisciplinary research project as part of an FAA-funded Center of Excellence, called the Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT, 2013-present). ASCENT is a multi-university initiative involving BU as well as MIT, UNC, and others. One of our projects under ASCENT focuses on air pollution, with efforts to determine the influence of flight activity on exposures and health outcomes. Current research within this project focuses on a field campaign to evaluate the contribution of aircraft arrivals and departures to air pollution exposures in Boston-area communities near flight paths. Future research within ASCENT may also include new epidemiological investigations of the health effects of aviation-related air pollution. (PI: Kevin Lane)

Sharecare Community Well-Being (cWBI) and Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). The Sharecare project is based at the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center (BEDAC) at the Boston University School of Public Health and is in collaboration with Sharecare, a private industry healthcare partner to examine the relationship between well-being and social determinants of health (SDOH). We are using well-being data collected via surveys on over 250,000 people annually combined with local zip code and county level GIS measures of SDOH to develop indices and map areas for improvement of public health (https://wellbeingindex.sharecare.com/ ). Some current projects are: cost-distance and network modeling to improve exposure assessment for measuring access to retail food environment; examining the relationship between community social determinants of health and exposure to toxic chemicals; examining the relationship between access to OBGYN care and maternal health; access to grocery stores, redlining and constituents of SDOH; exposure to nature, redlining associations with well-being. (PI: Kevin Lane)

Building Electrification, Regional Air Quality and Health: This is a long-term, multidisciplinary project with a proposal in progress and anticipated start dates in the summer. This project is a collaboration between BUSPH, University of North Carolina (UNC) and RMI (formerly the Rocky Mountain Institute). The goals of 1) evaluating the health impacts of gas use in buildings using output from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model run by our collaborators at UNC, 2) building a tool to evaluate the health benefits of building electrification in the U.S., 3) build a tool to evaluate benefits of policies, and 4) assist with communication of results to stakeholders. The postdoctoral researcher in this position will have the opportunity to lead one to two peer-reviewed publications. (PI: Jonathan Buonocore)

Natural Gas Transmission and Use, Air Quality, and Health: This is a long-term, multidisciplinary project with a proposal in progress and anticipated start dates in the summer. This project is a collaboration between BUSPH, University of North Carolina (UNC) and RMI (formerly the Rocky Mountain Institute).The goals are to 1) evaluating the health impacts of gas use in buildings, power plants, industry, and the “midstream” infrastructure that transmits gas across the U.S. using output from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model run by our collaborators at UNC, 2) evaluating the benefits different policies affecting emissions from gas use in the U.S. Postdoctoral researchers in this position should have experience with output from complex air pollution modeling platforms (such as CMAQ or CAMx), and will have the opportunity to lead one to two peer-reviewed publications. (PI: Jonathan Buonocore)

The Department of Environmental Health has a structured post-doctoral program with formal mentorship and career development opportunities. This includes support and training in grant preparation and manuscript writing, opportunities to present at both national and international conferences, and engagement in mentorship of students or classroom teaching if of interest to the applicant. This position offers a competitive compensation package (commensurate with experience), a tailored benefits package, and generous paid time off. This is structured as a 12 month position with potential for continuation in future years.

Duties and responsibilities include: ? Apply advanced statistical, data science or GIS skills, depending on project; ? Collaborate with scientists with different backgrounds; ? Write scientific peer-reviewed manuscripts; ? Participate in weekly meetings with PI and Co-Is; ? Engage with stakeholders related to community or policy-relevant findings.

Required qualifications: ? PhD/doctorate in environmental health, exposure assessment, data science, environmental epidemiology, exposure science, biostatistics, environmental or public policy, or related fields ? Strong organizational and time management skills, with ability to meet deadlines; ? Ability to work independently as well as part of a team; ? Demonstrated publication record; ? Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. ? Good communication and writing skills.

Preferred qualifications (can vary by project) ? Experience or interest in translating research findings into content for community-based or policy audiences; ? Social determinants of health, health disparities or health equity research experience; ? Experience with high-performance computing cluster environments.

The Department of Environmental Health believes that the cultural and social diversity of our faculty, staff, and students is vitally important to the distinction and excellence of our research and academic programs. We are eager to work with colleagues who support our institutional commitment to ensuring BUSPH is inclusive, equitable, diverse, and a place where all constituents can thrive.

Boston University is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.
Boston University is an equal opportunity employer and gives consideration for employment to qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, or veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor. To learn more, please visit our Equal Opportunity Office (bu.edu/eoo/).

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