Postdoctoral Fellowship: Natural Hazards and Child Health

Stanford University and the RAND Corporation are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join a National Institutes of Health-funded project on the health impacts of natural hazard-induced disasters globally across low- and middle-income countries. The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will join an interdisciplinary team of physician researchers, epidemiologists, environmental scientists, and economists focused on environmental and climatic drivers of population health in low- and middle-income countries across the world. Our group studies and measures major challenges to development (especially health improvements) among vulnerable populations using novel data sources, empirical observations, geospatial analyses, and causal inference approaches. The position is geared for a recent PhD graduate with interest in collaborating across disciplines and expertise in natural hazard modeling (especially cyclones and/or floods) and spatial data analysis. 

The position will be based at Stanford University. The fellowship has two primary goals: to advance research program on the health impacts of natural hazards, and to develop the career and interests of the Fellow. The Fellow will work alongside the faculty and other research staff, at Stanford (School of Medicine and Stanford Earth) and at RAND (RAND Social and Economic Wellbeing). Developing the research program will entail supporting the team with modeling of relevant natural hazards (especially hurricanes and floods), compiling and analyzing geospatial datasets on health and hazards, and leading the drafting of manuscripts. In addition, the fellow will have opportunities to partner and collaborate with faculty and programs across the University.

The fellowship is a one-year appointment, with the option to extend. Start date is flexible, but no later than December, 2022. Funding includes a living stipend plus certain medical, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage through Stanford's Postdoctoral Scholars program. Postdoctoral Research Fellows receive stipends per Stanford funding rates guidelines, based on research experience. The balance of in-person and remote work can be negotiated with the faculty mentors up front.

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will have completed a Ph.D. with substantial emphasis on natural hazards. We welcome applicants from environmental science, climatology, geography, or related fields. Applicants should have a range of quantitative skills including graduate-level knowledge of spatial data analysis, data management, and statistics or econometrics. Advanced knowledge of R’s or Python’s geospatial capabilities will be assessed favorably.

Interested applicants should submit the following materials:  

1. Curriculum vitae
2. Cover letter describing research interests to be pursued during training 

We will request a sample publication/first-author manuscript with related analysis code and references later during the recruitment process.

Faculty Sponsor: Eran Bendavid, Associate Professor of Medicine (Primary Care and Population Health), and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment

Postdoc Appointment Term:  One year, with option to extend by mutual arrangement

Appointment Start Date:  Remote-work options and start date are negotiable