Postdoctoral Fellow

Mission Driven, Community Focused About | Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (cdrewu.edu)

Charles R. Drew University is located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of south Los Angeles and was founded in 1966 in the wake of the Watts uprising. CDU was founded to address inadequate medical care in the region and to provide equitable medical education opportunities for under-represented students.

CDU is strongly invested in the local and regional community. The university leads multiple partnerships and programs to provide equitable healthcare resources in a variety of south Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Job Summary:

Under the supervision of the Principal Investigator, the Postdoctoral Fellow will be responsible for conducting translational cancer research that focuses on social epigenomics associated with health disparities. We are seeking a highly motivated and ambitious MD or Ph.D. candidate to work on projects related to understanding how social determinants of health may impact changes in epigenetics and genetic targets that could influence the risk of developing breast cancer and its progression. Specifically, the postdoctoral fellow will examine the role of multilevel (neighborhood and individual) social and economic factors on associations between health behaviors and breast cancer outcomes, focusing on African American and Hispanic women. The successful candidate will ideally have training in social determinants of health and epidemiologic methods, experience in the publication of scientific manuscripts, and interest and experience in grant writing. The candidate should also have expertise and/or interest in cancer Epidemiology and cancer health disparities.

 Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Duties assigned to this position will require an in-depth knowledge of a specialized field, process, or discipline and may involve organizing and implementing complex research plans, the development of methods of research, testing and data collection, analysis and evaluation, and writing reports (weekly reports and progress reports) containing descriptive, analytical and evaluative content.
• The duties will require the exercise of independent discretion and judgment in carrying out research activities within the predetermined research scope and methodology.
• Maintains and documents data for research. Coordinates from various collaborating departments and collaborates with colleagues.
• Responsible for student interns of the research.
• Responsible for statistical analyses of data, and regulation paperwork, writing up results and submit weekly report to PI
• Demonstrates leadership in presentation materials and manuscript preparation.
• Assists divisional staff members and other collaborators in the research.
• Presents research papers at meetings.
• Assist the Project Leader in mentoring student interns.

 Other Duties and Responsibilities:

• Perform other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION:

• Regionally accredited doctoral degree (Ph.D., MD.) required in Epidemiology and Social Science related area.

 EXPERIENCE:

• Experience in population, epidemiology and social science studies such as familiar with statistical methods for transformation of social economic and social environment information in indexes of relative inequality and evaluating influences of those factors in increasing risk of breast cancer and cancer progression.

 KNOWLEDGE/ABILITIES/SKILLS:

• Statistical analysis for qualitative and quantitative data
• Understanding of social determinants of health
• Computer skills
• Written and oral communication skills
• Able to troubleshoot, and resolve technical difficulties
• Committed in career in cancer health disparities research.

 COMPLEXITY:

• The ability to perform highly detailed work with sustained attention and care while providing/obtaining information on numerous inquiries is paramount to success in this position.

 PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Occasional stooping. Frequent standing.  Constant walking, sitting, climbing, reaching high/low levels, finger movement, feeling, speaking clearly, hearing conversational