Post-Doctoral Research Associate; Informatics - Center Health Research

Post-Doctoral Research Associate (Informatics - Center 4 Health Research)

Location
:
Peoria, IL USA

This position is with the Center 4 Health Research (C4HR), a newly established strategic initiative of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria (UICOMP). The mission is to improve overall health and promote equity in the local community through pioneering research, innovative programs, and collaborations with healthcare systems, academic institutions, and community organizations. The work emphasizes health disparities, patient-centered and community-informed approaches, with a focus on digital health, social determinants of health, and improving outcomes for underserved populations.

This postdoctoral position will design, implement, and analyze research projects focused on identifying and addressing health disparities, with an emphasis on patient-centered digital health interventions (such as Epic MyChart). It provides an opportunity to apply advanced informatics, artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, and data science methods to understand and mitigate health disparities, enhance patient engagement, and improve outcomes through digital health innovations.

The successful candidate will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team and contribute to building evidence that informs policy and practice.

• Scholarly Activities
  :
  Prepare manuscripts for peer‑reviewed journals and present research findings at national and international conferences. Assist in the development of grant proposals to secure funding for current and future research projects.
• Career Development & Mentorship
  :
  Work with the Supervisor to develop a personalized professional growth plan with opportunities for publications, presentations, grant development, and career advancement.
• Research Design & Implementation
  :
  Develop and support mixed-methods research strategies to identify and address health disparities, particularly in rural and urban populations, through patient-centered and community-informed approaches.
• Survey & Data Collection
  :
  Design and implement survey tools such as REDCap or Qualtrics, and collect, manage, and analyze diverse datasets, including EHR (EPIC), surveys, interviews, and population-level data. Qualitative & quantitative analyses: conduct interviews or focus groups, perform statistical and thematic analyses, and apply appropriate models (e.g., regression, ANOVA).
• Digital Health & Informatics
  :
  Leverage data from EHRs, patient portals, mobile health apps, and wearables to generate insights, predictive models, and decision‑support tools; collaborate with informatics teams to evaluate and optimize digital interventions.
• AI, Predictive Modeling & Data Visualization
  :
  Utilize machine learning/predictive modeling to identify trends or high‑risk groups, and develop interactive dashboards (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, R, SAS) to communicate findings.
• Open Science & Data Stewardship
  :
  Maintain reproducible research practices, ensure data quality and compliance, and uphold IRB and ethical standards throughout project execution.
• Community Engagement
  :
  Collaborate with patients, clinicians, and community stakeholders to ensure research benefits all.
• Career & Interdisciplinary Engagement
  :
  Collaborate with patients, clinicians, community partners, and researchers across disciplines (public health, epidemiology, behavioral science, informatics) to ensure equitable impact and effective dissemination.
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration
  :
  Partner with researchers in public health, health services, epidemiology, behavioral sciences, and informatics to guide study design and dissemination.
• Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.

• A Ph.D. in public health, health informatics, health services research, epidemiology, behavioral science, data science, or a related discipline.
• Strong background in qualitative and quantitative research methods, with experience in conducting and analyzing qualitative interviews or focus groups using tools such as NVivo.
• Experience in survey design and implementation using tools such as REDCap, Qualtrics,…