We are seeking one post-doctoral fellow (2-year term) with training in epidemiology-biostatistics to be involved in an interdisciplinary program of research evaluating the effects of innovative approaches to the treatment of suicidal patients on the prevention of subsequent suicidal behaviors. The fellow will be physically located in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, but will train and work with a large, multi-site network of researchers leading the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS) and the Military Suicide Research Consortium (MSRC). Army STARRS is focused on identifying risk and protective factors for suicidal behavior and related conditions. MSRC is focused on developing and testing effective treatments for suicidal behavior. The post-doctoral fellow will work at the interface of these two initiatives, focusing on prospective observational analyses of large administrative databases using modern targeted learning methods to evaluate the effectiveness of several innovative clinical interventions in place in DoD and VA to prevent suicidal behaviors.
Candidates are expected to have a PhD in clinical epidemiology-biostatistics and training in modern methods of making causal inferences from prospective observational data. Competitive candidates will have familiarity with double robust estimation, targeted learning, and statistical methods for estimating precision treatment models based on ensemble machine learning methods.
Research mentors will include: Ronald Kessler (Harvard Medical School), Matthew Nock (Harvard University), Peter Gutierrez (Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center and University of Colorado School of Medicine), Thomas Joiner (Florida State University), Robert Bossarte (West Virginia University & VA Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Canandaigua, NY) and other Army STARRS and MSRC collaborators.
Please send: (a) a brief cover letter describing your background and interests, (b) CV, (c) two letters of recommendation, and (d) copies of relevant reprints/preprints.
This position will be funded by MSRC (pending final funding decision, via FSU and Denver VA; see FSU Equal Opportunity Statement here), have a starting salary of $48,000/year, and a planned start date of July 1, 2019 (start date is flexible). U.S. citizenship is required for this position. Application deadline is December 15, 2018. Please send materials and any questions to: Ronald Kessler at Kessler@hcp.med.harvard.edu.