January 2019: The Partnership for Work, Heath and Safety is seeking a postdoctoral fellow for a two year term, with an initial appointment of one year. The incumbent will lead a program of research informing the provision of healthcare, rehabilitation and compensation services for injured workers, with a focus on optimal work-health and return-to-work outcomes among immigrant workers in Canada. The position is situated within a broader program of occupational health research under the direction of Drs. Mieke Koehoorn and Chris McLeod. This position will be supervised by Dr. Mieke Koehoorn. The research conducted by the post-doctoral fellow will aim to provide a comprehensive picture of work disability experiences (from injury to return-to-work to long term health consequences), including by immigration status within the Canadian context.

Job description

The primary activities of the postdoctoral research fellow include:

• To lead a program of research with a focus on comparing work disability experiences among immigrants and Canadian-born workers, and to investigate the demographic, clinical and workplace determinants of work disability outcomes;
• To co-author and author publications for peer-review journals;
• To coordinate and assist with the preparation of grant application(s);
• To assist with the development of workers’ compensation data for research purposes;
• To conduct analyses using a variety of statistical methods and statistical programs;
• To support the preparation of research reports and to participate in knowledge translation (KT) activities; and
• To participate in team meetings and to contribute to Partnership for Work, Health and Safety academic activities.

Desired skills and experience

Education

• Completion of a PhD in a relevant discipline e.g., population and public health or social sciences (epidemiology, sociology, political science, geography, etc.) with a focus on health and/or immigrant health outcomes.

Experience

• Strong understanding of, and proven experience using, advanced statistical and empirical analysis methods, as well as proficiency with related software (SAS, Stata, R).
• Understanding of, and experience using, administrative health data/health services records for research purposes.
• Expertise in advanced epidemiological methods including, for example, survival analyses, quantile regression, trajectory analyses, and propensity score matching.
• Experience with writing scientific manuscripts in the field of public and work health, health policy and health service research or related social science journals.

Skills

• Sound theoretical and practical understanding of the linkages between public policy including but not limited to workers’ compensation and work-health outcomes.
• Strong statistical analytical skills including training in observational and quasi- experimental research methodology.
• Excellent communication skills, including strong writing, research and interpersonal skills.

Errors made could influence the ability of the research team to meet critical deadlines, as well as compromise the results of research project, and therefore impact the credibility of the Principal Investigator. Poor decisions may be damaging to the reputation of the Principal Investigator, the School, and the University and could lead to incorrect or inappropriate policy recommendations being made.

This position will be responsible for access, collection, use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996) and other UBC privacy and security policies. This position requires employees to work under strict confidentiality requirements; internal procedures and policies to protect personal information must be followed and adherence to these requirements will be regularly reviewed by the employer.

About our organization

The Partnership is dedicated to addressing current and emerging issues of work-related health in British Columbia. The Partnership takes the lead in work-related health research by developing and promoting the use of routinely collected health and compensation data to generate policy-relevant evidence for compensation and occupational health decision-makers, via our data partner, Population Data BC. The data allows us to conduct research on the entire working-age population over a 25-year period, providing a unique and comprehensive portrait of the health and well-being of workers in British Columbia. The Partnership works with researchers and decision-makers in other jurisdictions to create similar databases for comparative research purposes.

Our team is comprised of a diverse and multidisciplinary group of faculty, students, and staff, situated in the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. SPPH is an innovative unit structured around four divisions (Occupational and Environmental Health; Health Services and Policy; Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health Practice; and Health in Populations) that provides multidisciplinary opportunities for researchers, learners and decision makers to develop creative evidence-based strategies to solve public health issues.

To apply

Please apply by emailing Partnership Director of Privacy and Operations Suhail Marino at suhail.marino@ubc.ca.

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.