The Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health seeks a Post Doctoral Research Scientist. The candidate will collaborate with an investigative team that includes leading scientists working on behavioral and social aspects of HIV at Columbia, Johns Hopkins University, and at the Rakai Health Sciences Project (RHSP), in Uganda. The Rakai Health Sciences Project, is the home of a 23-year longitudinal population-based cohort that has generated some of the most important biomedical and behavioral insights into the dynamics of HIV vulnerability and prevention.
The position is based in New York City but will involve periodic extended travel to Uganda. The incumbent will work on an NIH-funded Study “Structural and Social Transitions among Adolescents and young adults in Rakai” (SSTAR) study.” This study will investigate the influence of social structural determinants on transitions from adolescence to adulthood using RCCS cohort data and longitudinal modeling techniques. We will also deploy innovative qualitative methods developed during the Rakai Youth Project (the Ethnographic Case Control method) to explore contexts and outcomes of social transitions (school leaving, migration, and marital dissolution).
Primary Responsibilities:
* Develop and finalize data collection instruments for the ethnographic portion of SSTAR;
* Provide training for the RHSP ethnographic research team, which already has substantial ethnographic research experience, to help prepare them theoretically and methodologically for SSTAR data collection;
* Participate in portions of the ethnographic fieldwork;
* Periodically organize and participate in debrief sessions with RHSP ethnographic research team on interviews that have been conducted;
* Play a critical role in conducting literative data analysis, including giving RHSP research team timely substantive and methodological feedback on both field notes and interviews, and contributing to revisions of instruments to reflect emerging findings;
* Analyze ethnographic data, sharing ethnographic data with the quantitative arm of the SSTAR team;
* Play a critical role in the development, writing, submission and revision of manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals. As laid out in the project’s written authorship guidelines, we prioritize the professional development of our team’s more junior members and authorship opportunities will reflect this, with the post-doctoral fellow taking the lead as first author on some papers and being a co-author on others, and
* Assist as needed with other activities related to the study (e.g., planning of ethnographic team trainings, preparation of reports on ethnographic research for quantitative SSTAR team members, and preparation of progress reports for IRB renewals and for NIH, etc.)
* School/Institute/Unit: Public Health, Mailman School of
* Minimum Degree Required: Ph.D., M.D. or professional equivalent
All applicants MUST meet these minimum qualifications to be considered for the position.
* The successful candidate will have doctoral level training in anthropology, sociology, or social sciences and health, and substantial prior experience in conducting ethnographic research, including participant observation.
* Preferred Qualifications: Knowledge of research on HIV is preferred. Geographic expertise (prior research experience in East Africa or specifically in Uganda in the Rakai region) and mastery of Luganda preferred.
* Additional Information: Candidates must have completed all requirement for the PhD prior to starting the position.
Posting Date: 01-24-2018
Closing Date: Open Until Filled
Special Instructions to Applicants:
Proposed Start Date: 09-01-2018
EEO Statement Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer –Race/Gender/Disability/
Date Review Begins 01-24-2018
Required Applicant Documents for Upload: Curriculum Vitae & Cover Letter
Optional Applicant Documents for Upload
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