Boston College Introduction

Founded in 1863, Boston College is a Jesuit, Catholic university located six miles from downtown Boston with an enrollment of 9,484 full-time undergraduates and 5,250 graduate and professional students. Ranked 35 among national universities, Boston College has 888 full-time and 1,281 FTE faculty, 2,711 non-faculty employees, an operating budget of $1.4 billion, and an endowment in excess of $3.5 billion.

Job Description

Competitive salary commensurate with relevant experience.

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will work under the direction of Dr. Kirsten Davison on the Fathers & Families study. Funded by National Institution of Child Health and Development (NICHD), Fathers & Families is one of the largest studies to date to comprehensively examine the role of fathers in childhood obesity prevention. The study leverages an existing cohort of adults (the Growing Up Today Study, GUTS), combined with a new cohort of fathers of color, to build a diverse, national cohort of more than 1000 biological, adoptive and social fathers with preschool-aged children (ages 1-6 years) and their co-parents. Fathers & Families will provide new knowledge on: the role of fathers on young children’s emerging diet and physical activity behaviors; the interplay between fathers’ and mothers’ health-related parenting on children’s health and growth outcomes; and the role of contextual factors such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), mental health and co-parenting quality on fathers’ health-related parenting and, in turn, children’s health and growth outcomes. Data collection for Fathers & Families concluded in May 2024; the final data set includes data for more than 1,000 fathers, their co-parents and children assessed annually for up to three years.

As a member of a vibrant and diverse research team, including investigators, students and research staff from Boston College and collaborating institutions, the postdoctoral fellow will be primarily responsible for overseeing the integrity of the research data, serving as the primary data analyst, preparing research publications and supporting students and collaborators in their use of the data.

The successful candidate will have a PhD in nutrition, public health, psychology, or a related field and to have four or more years of experience with childhood obesity prevention research, or child and family health research more broadly. Extensive experience with the analysis of large quantitative data sets, using R, and strong writing skills are expected.

This position is available starting June 1, 2024. Pending a one-year review, appropriate work authorization documentation and funding availability, it is expected that the position will be available for up to 2 years. This is a funded full-time research position. While Dr. Davison will provide professional mentorship and direction on responsibilities and deliverables, the trainee will work independently and have considerable latitude in determining time allocation to tasks and the process to achieve expected outcomes.

Requirements

• A PhD in nutrition, public health, psychology, social work or a related field is required.

• The trainee will have significant experience cleaning and analyzing quantitative, longitudinal data using R studio. Evidence of successfully publishing research related to childhood obesity prevention in reputable peer-reviewed journals is also expected.

• The trainee will have 4 or more years of experience conducting research, including data analysis and manuscript preparation.

Closing Statement

Boston College offers a broad and competitive range of benefits depending on your job classification eligibility:

• Tuition remission for Employees

• Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements

• Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance

• Low-Cost Life Insurance

• Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans

• Paid Holidays Annually

• Generous Sick and Vacation Pay

• Additional benefits can be found on https://www.bc.edu/employeehandbook

Boston College conducts pre-employment background checks as part of the hiring process.

Boston College is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. In concert with our Jesuit, Catholic mission, Boston College is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty and staff committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment and strongly encourages applications for women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and covered veterans. To learn more about how BC supports diversity and inclusion throughout the university please visit the Office for Institutional Diversity at https://www.bc.edu/diversity .

Boston College's Notice of Nondiscrimination can be viewed at https://www.bc.edu/nondiscrimination .