Postdoctoral Scholar Position

The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, & Practice (Crown Family School) builds upon a legacy of more than a century of scholarship, education and leadership in social work and social welfare, blending a distinctive interdisciplinary tradition with applied problem-solving to foster innovative solutions to some of society’s most pressing social problems. For more information about the Crown School, please visit our website at: https://crownschool.uchicago.edu/.

About the Unit

The Center for Health Administration Studies (CHAS) at The University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice has been a leader for over 75 years in research and education in health policy and services. CHAS engages an interdisciplinary and international group of health policy and services researchers on topics of health policy innovation and reform, health and social service integration, health access, cost and quality, behavioral health, global health, and preventive intervention.

Position Summary

The University of Chicago, Medicaid Working Group with the Center for Health Administration Studies (CHAS) seeks to hire a full-time Postdoctoral Scholar to work on a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) initiative titled “Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL).” The University of Chicago leads the Methodology and Advanced Analytics Resource Center (MAARC), and Drs. Harold Pollack and Colleen Grogan are Co-PIs of the Policy Landscape Core. The Postdoctoral Scholar would work under the mentorship of Drs. Pollack and Grogan as part of the Policy Landscape Core. One key objective of the Policy Landscape Core is to provide a comprehensive picture of SUD-related federal legislation over the past five years, and documentation of how states have implemented federal SUD policy. The Postdoctoral Scholar will help to develop a unique dataset of SUD Waiver policies across the states that have adopted SUD waivers. This policy dataset will then be linked to patient-level Medicaid Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System Analytic Files (TAF) to conduct a series of retrospective, longitudinal analyses to determine how these policies influence access to SUD treatments and outcomes, such as overdose fatalities.

The Postdoctoral Scholar will receive mentorship from Grogan and Pollack at the University of Chicago and collaborate with an interdisciplinary, multi-university research team comprised of faculty and trainees with expertise in Medicaid design, Medicaid claims data analysis, health services research, health economics, policy analysis, and clinical medicine and practice. Primary responsibilities will include constructing data sets and variables from raw Medicaid TAF; conducting data analysis; and providing clear analytic interpretations. There will also be opportunities for the Postdoctoral Scholar to write manuscripts as a first author and contribute as a coauthor; present at national conferences; and contribute to grant proposals. The Postdoctoral Scholar will also have the opportunity to engage with the broader University of Chicago community. Examples of opportunities for engagement include inter-disciplinary research meetings and events, lectures, and workshops held at the Center for Health Administration Studies; Center for Health and the Social Sciences; Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice; Department of Public Health Sciences; and Harris School of Public Policy.

Qualifications

Successful applicants will have a doctoral degree in a relevant field (e.g. computer science, economics, public health (biostatistics, epidemiology, health policy), public policy, social work, statistics). Ideally, the successful applicant will also have a research agenda related to health policy and/or substance use disorder treatment with a strong interest in Medicaid policy.

The core requirements of this position are: 1) Experience analyzing large-scale administrative data (preferably Medicaid or Medicare claims data); 2) Solid command of at least one programming language (preferably SAS and Python), including through formal training in data structures, and experience with version control programs like GitHub and the Unix/Linux environment; 3) Ability to write code that is reproducible and well-documented; 4) Formal coursework in causal inference statistics (e.g. multilevel or longitudinal analysis); 5) Excellent written and verbal communication skills (preferably for public health and/or public policy audiences); and 6) Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative spirit.

Position Details

Term: The initial two-year appointment will begin on June 1, 2025 (or later) and will end about two years later on July 31, 2027 (or later depending on start date) with the possibility of renewal for two additional years (e.g., to July 31, 2029).

Salary: $61,008 annually

Benefits: Yes

Location: Position requires residency in the Chicago area

Required Job Seeker Documents

Interested candidates should send an email to Drs. Colleen Grogan at cgrogan@uchicago.edu and Harold Pollack haroldp@uchicago.edu with the following materials:
1. Cover letter
2. Curriculum Vita
3. Sample of organized code (ideally a GitHub link, if available)
4. Writing sample (either a publication or chapter of dissertation)

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information, please see the University’s Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers needing a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-1032 or email equalopportunity@uchicago.edu with their request.

CHAS Communications Specialist

The University of Chicago Center for Health Administration Studies (CHAS) seeks a Communications Specialist with experience in website development and social media management systems. Additionally, it is advantageous to have a background in social sciences, academic writing or medical writing, for various forms of public media. The Communications Specialist is the primary editor of the Center’s website content, primary content publisher for all social media platforms and coordinates publishing of the Center’s monthly online newsletter. In addition to above, the Specialist will spend approximately 10-18 hours per week identifying and summarizing journal articles, online news articles, book chapters or other relevant research content published by CHAS-affiliated faculty members and stakeholders. Blogging and social media coordination skills are required. Specialist will be expected to contribute to writing for the CHAS website, monthly e-newsletter, client list development, and other tasks as assigned. Communications Specialist should be open to office work, both on campus when possible and remotely, to facilitate and aid coordination of a quarterly lecture series and online promotional events associated.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES:
Proficient knowledge of Microsoft Office suite.
Intermediate knowledge of WordPress (and plugin utilization).
Experience with journalism, academic writing and/or writing for social media.
Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to organize, prioritize, and complete projects under time constraints.
Attention to detail.
Ability to take initiative and anticipate tasks.

PREFERRED COMPETENCIES:
Proficient knowledge of photo/video editing programs (Photoshop, GIMP 2 or similar client) preferred.
Interest in contributing to the development of University health policy and services research center(s) encouraged.

RATE OF PAY: $20.00 per hour
START DATE: TBA

Interested candidates should send an email to CHAS Administrative Director Keith Brown at keith.brown@uchicago.edu.