UCI Postdoc - Social Epidemiology

Dr. Tim Bruckner seeks a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), to work on two projects. The main project involves understanding structural, economic, and policy-level causes of racial disparities in stillbirth and live birth outcomes in the US. The secondary project will assist with quantifying the extent to which postponement of childbearing in Denmark affects health, educational, labor market, and other societal costs-both for parents and their children. The fellowship is a one-year appointment with the possibility of one-to-two-year renewal. This appointment is contingent upon receipt of the Ph.D. prior to the start date. The start date is negotiable but could begin as early as April 2025.

Background: The funded NIH project in the US aims to understand racial differences over time in stillbirth, preterm birth, and neonatal mortality in the US. We will use the universe of live births, infant deaths, and fetal deaths in the US (~70 million records) to rigorously examine race-specific trends in preterm birth and infant mortality rates. In addition, we will use a structural racism theoretical framework to examine the extent to which dynamic race-based spatial indicators of inequality affect patterns in fetal loss, selection in utero, and infant mortality among preterm births.

Separately, the secondary project is motivated by the fact that the age of first-time mothers in Denmark has increased by more than 20%, from 24.8 years in 1981 to 29.8 years in 2021. We aim to understand the extent to which postponement of childbearing affects birth outcomes, children's health and educational outcomes, and parental labor force participation. We will characterize changes over time (i.e., 1980 to 2018) in parents' delay of childbearing in Denmark and delineate which demographic groups in particular account for these trends. We will exploit the longitudinal nature of register data to use sibling-control and maternal fixed-effects methods to estimate biologically-based sequelae of older age at childbearing (>30 years) as well as social "selection" into postponed childbearing.

Compensation: Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications. See UCI postdoc salary scale here: https://ap.uci.edu/compensation/salary-scales/

Work Expectation: Whereas the candidate is expected to have an in-person presence at UCI at least 2 days a week, remote work arrangements are negotiable.

Application Process: Serious applicants should email Professor Tim Bruckner (brucknet@uci.edu) with the following subject header (one word):

ucipostdocopportunity

In your email, please attach the following application materials: CV, Cover Letter, sample of STATA, R, or SAS code. Position open until filled.

UC Irvine is one of ten campuses of the highly regarded University of California system. With approximately 37,000 students, 1,500 ladder-rank faculty members, a highly ranked medical school, and over $500 million per year of extramural grant funding, our campus offers a wealth of opportunities for research collaboration and is ranked among the top 10 public universities in the US. UC Irvine established the Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health in Summer 2024. Accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health since October 2012, our rapidly growing School offers BA, BS, MPH, and PhD degrees in a variety of emphasis areas including environmental health sciences and was recently ranked among the top 40 schools in public health in the country by U.S. News and World Report. More information is available on our web site at http://publichealth.uci.edu/.

Qualifications - the candidate will be expected to have:

• PhD in epidemiology, economics, sociology, demography, or a related field
• Background in epidemiology, demography, health policy or biostatistics
• Background in maternal and infant health
• Fluency in at least two of the following: STATA, R, SAS

Duties:

• Conduct independent research using the US birth file and the California microdata birth cohort file, under the guidance of Professor Tim Bruckner, Department of Health, Society & Behavior. Submit articles for publication.
• Conduct research using the full force of the Danish Registers (1980 to 2018), under the guidance of Professor Tim Bruckner.
• Participate in project meetings and other events with the team from Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, Columbia, and Duke University, as well as colloquia in the School of Population and Public Health. You will also attend colloquia at the Center for Population, Inequality, and Policy, as relevant.
• Have the option to attend graduate coursework in the Program in Public Health and elsewhere.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will also have other opportunities for collaborative and independent research projects, as part of the Bruckner Lab (https://sites.uci.edu/brucknerlab/). They will be expected to engage with the Project Teams at UCI and internationally, the Wen School of Population and Public Health, and and the Center for Population, Inequality, and Policy (UCI). The Fellow is expected to take advantage of the many resources at UCI (e.g., colloquia, workshops, and other events) to develop a research career.

• 3 required (contact information only)

The University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC anti-discrimination policy.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• "Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
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As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.