Employment Opportunities

Postdoctoral Education and Career Development Program in Cancer Disparities

The University of Minnesota Schools of Public Health and Medicine are excited to announce the availability of postdoctoral research education fellowship positions in Cancer Disparities. We anticipate having three positions available. This education and career development program is funded by the National Cancer Institute (Jean Forster, PhD and Kola Okuyemi, MD, MPH, Co-PIs). Eligible candidates should have a doctoral degree in any of the following disciplines: medicine, behavioral science, epidemiology, health education, health services research, sociology, anthropology, clinical, social or counseling psychology or a related discipline. Preferred candidates will have experience and peer-reviewed publications in above disciplines. This program is focused on training researchers to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce cancer-related inequities among disadvantaged populations in both clinical and population settings, using a Community Based Participatory Research framework. The program also intends to enhance the diversity of the research workforce in this area by recruiting individuals from underrepresented/disadvantaged populations.

The fellowship provides exceptional educational and career development opportunities, including both academic and community mentors. Fellows will collaborate with a dynamic, federally funded, multi-disciplinary team of investigators including psychologists, physicians, epidemiologists, and statisticians, and with cultural community organizations with a history of community-university research partnerships to address community-identified problems. The broad range of research interests includes: alcohol and tobacco use prevention, nicotine dependence and smoking cessation; obesity, nutrition, and physical activity; stress and psychosocial risk factors in chronic disease; health care access and quality for disadvantaged populations; and immigrant health. The position offers a 2-year appointment with a start date of September 2012, competitive salary, excellent resources for career development, and liberal benefits. The fellowship can be tailored to suit the individual's training requirements with opportunities for teaching experience, clinical and community-based work, authorship on relevant manuscripts, collaborative grant writing experience, rigorous independent grant submission, and funding to obtain an MPH or MS in Clinical Research. There is also support for conference travel and other training experiences.

The University of Minnesota (UMN) is among the most comprehensive public universities in the United States and ranks among the most prestigious. It is Minnesota’s primary research as well as land-grant university with faculty of national and international reputation. The UMN Academic Health Center (AHC) comprises 6 health science schools (Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Veterinary Medicine). The AHC is also home to the Masonic Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are vibrant communities, combining the best of metropolitan living with the beauty and peace of natural surroundings. The metropolitan area is culturally diverse, with significant populations of Somalis and other African immigrants and refugees, Latino communities, one of the largest urban American Indian populations, large settlements of Hmong and other Southeast Asian refugees, and African American communities. The Twin Cities is also home to a large LGBT community. These cultural communities contribute to a rich and exciting urban environment with a wide selection of cultural offerings including restaurants, theater, music and arts reflecting the diversity in this area.

If interested, submit your letter of intent, CV, and three letters of reference addressed to Kola Okuyemi, MD, MPH to the University of Minnesota Employment web site: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/employment/. Please reference Requisition # 175299. For more information, please contact Lindsey Fabian (fabian@umn.edu). The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
 

Degree and/or credentials:

Ph.D., MD or equivalent is required. Eligible candidates will have a doctoral degree in any of the following disciplines: medicine, behavioral science, epidemiology, health education, health services research, sociology, anthropology, clinical, social or counseling psychology or a related discipline. Interest and experience within cancer-related health disparities research is required.

Preferred:
Background in cancer-related health disparities research, public health, law, sociology, psychology, economics, statistics, or related fields. The preferred candidate will have experience working with community-based organizations, and grant and manuscript writing. Preferred candidates will have peer-reviewed manuscripts in cancer health disparities.