Postdoctoral Fellowship in Substance Use and Mental Health Longitudinal Research
University of Southern California
Keck School of Medicine
The University of Southern California Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine and Institute for Addiction Science are recruiting a postdoctoral fellowship position. The postdoctoral fellow will join a team of investigators carrying out NIH-funded longitudinal and cross-sectional research on causes, correlates, and consequences of substance use and emotional health. The fellow will have access to various longitudinal cohort data sets, including those actively collecting data among youth, young adults, and adults. The primary dataset of interest collected 34 bi-weekly/monthly survey waves in a nationally-representative sample of ~9,000 adults participating in the Understanding America Study. The dataset contains rich information on sociodemographic and sociocultural characteristics, health behaviors, and use of e-cigarette, cigarette, cannabis, alcohol, or other substances. There is potential for extending the data source by integrating survey response data with geospatially linked policy and social determinant exposures.
The aim of the fellowship is to provide the candidate with opportunities to lead and collaborate on data analysis and papers with this dataset and other data sources under the mentorship of Adam Leventhal, Ph.D. and Junhan Cho, Ph.D., and collaborate with other study investigators. The position also provides training in building an independent research program, grant writing, and other career development activities as desired. The ideal candidate would possess excellent writing ability, outstanding data analytic skills (preferably in intensive longitudinal analysis or other types of longitudinal/repeated measures modeling), and an interest in pursuing a career as a methodologically-savvy researcher of addiction and/or mental health.
The position is housed within the Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Department of Population and Public Health Sciences Division of Health Behavior Research and the Institute for Addiction Science, which collectively administer various research and training programs, including a NIH Tobacco Center for Regulatory Science.
Application review will begin December 15, 2024 and will continue until the position is filled. Start date is flexible but should be no later than summer/fall 2025.
To apply: please send a cover letter, statement of research interests, three paper reprints, and CV and also arrange to have three letters of recommendation sent to: Adam Leventhal adam.leventhal@usc.edu and Junhan Cho junhanch@usc.edu. All materials should be sent via email. Candidates are encouraged to contact Drs. Leventhal or Cho if they have pre-application questions about the role.