PostDoctoral Fellow - Public Health Focus
Meharry Medical College

The Post-Doctoral Fellow should have prior experience with multi-tasking skills working with study participants and patients. He/She will directly understudy and assist research and clinical faculty to identify and recruit potential study participants in the clinics and in the community, consent eligible study participants, schedule study visits at various time intervals, instrument the study survey in hard copy or REDCap, and collect, handle, process and store urine and blood specimens. He/She will also assist in processing IRB applications, record keeping, data management and analysis, and schedule research related meetings with the investigators and the Community Advisory Board. He/She is responsible for adhering to research standard operating procedures (SOP) for collecting and storing Biosamples, and for educating and training study participants to adhere to the intervention of interest by following study protocols.

The Post-Doctoral Fellow while assisting the study PIs in all research activities, will be responsible for developing a scientific research poster to display the study results. He/She will also develop a research pilot project that will be submitted as a Career Development Grant proposal. The post-doctoral follow will work very closely with the program coordinator to ensure that all aspects of this research project are successfully implemented. This full-time position will support work performed via a National Institute for Health P50 funded research award titled, "Community Team Lifestyle Immersion Program for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control". The post-doctoral fellow will report directly to the study research Principal Investigator, Dr. Flora Ukoli, over a 2.5-year period. More detail about the study can be obtained directly by email to fukoli@mmc.edu.

Daily Operations

• Complete all required research training in-person & Identify eligible study participants and consent them.
• Complete the study questionnaire by interview onto hard copy surveys or REDCap, including physical body-fat distribution measurements (Weight, height, skin-fold thickness, waist & hip circumference).
• Collect urine and blood samples from all participants, handle, process, label accurately, and store the Biosamples appropriately.
• Train study participants in the following areas of blood pressure self-management, nutrition, and physical fitness by education presentation and practical demonstration.
• Assist investigators to complete follow-up of participants at 1-month, 3-months, and 6-months post intervention, and complete their follow-up surveys, measurements, and biosample collection.
• Complete research data entry into the study database, manage the database, and analyze research sata.
• Develop and submit a scientific poster and a pilot grant proposal or an NIH Career Development Grant proposal.

• Must have the ability to express self clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, and to establish and maintain effective rapport and effective working relations with participants and research team members.
• Must have the ability to operate personal computer, other office equipment, and a variety of audio-visual equipment, and proficiency using Microsoft Work, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft, PowerPoint, etc.
• Should have proficiency in biosample collection and handling, including phlebotomy.
• Must be familiar with entering and managing research study data via SPSS database or electronic database such as REDCap, with willingness to learn same within 2 weeks.
• Must have basic physical fitness and nutrition recommendation knowledge, and the ability to demonstrate physical fitness and healthy plate activities.
• Must express readiness to learn research skills required to successfully develop a scientific poster and a pilot project for the purpose of submitting a career development grant.

• Doctoral Degree in Public Health related specialty, Nutrition, Health Education, Health administration and Planning, social work, behavioral science from an accredited college or university with at least one-year related work experience required. Additional related Certification preferred.
• Prior experience conducting human subjects research.
• Prior experience in recruitment and retention of racial/ethnic minorities into research studies.
• Evidence of a submitted thesis and/or publication in peer reviewed journal.