Post-Doctoral Research Associate (Infomatics - Center 4 Health Research)

University of Illinois Medical Center • Peoria, IL

60d • $43,888 - $68,964

About The Position

The Center 4 Health Research (C4HR) is a newly established strategic initiative of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria (UICOMP), with the mission to improve overall health and promote equity in our local community. Our goal is to drive positive changes through pioneering research, innovative programs, and strong collaborations with healthcare systems, academic institutions, and community organizations. As a dynamic and forward-thinking research team, we are deeply committed to advancing the field of health disparity research through patient-centered, community-informed approaches. Our work spans qualitative and quantitative methods, with a strong emphasis on digital health, social determinants of health, and improving health outcomes for underserved populations. The C4HR invites applications for a Post-Doctoral Researcher position focused on optimizing the use of digital health technologies to better serve the needs of end users, including both patients and healthcare providers. This role offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to impactful, patient-centered research aimed at improving healthcare delivery, access, and equity through innovative digital tools. This postdoctoral position will play a critical role in designing, implementing, and analyzing research projects focused on identifying and addressing health disparities, with an emphasis on patient-centered digital health interventions (such as Epic MyChart). This role also provides an opportunity to apply advanced informatics, artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, and data science methods to understand and mitigate health disparities, enhance patient engagement, and improve outcomes through digital health innovations. The successful candidate will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team and contribute to building evidence that informs policy and practice.

Requirements

• A Ph.D. in public health, health informatics, health services research, epidemiology, behavioral science, data science, or a related discipline.
• Strong background in qualitative and quantitative research methods, with experience in conducting and analyzing qualitative interviews or focus groups using tools such as NVivo.
• Experience in survey design and implementation using tools such as REDCap, Qualtrics, or similar platforms.
• Proficiency with at least one programming language for data analysis (e.g., Python, SAS, R).
• Experience working with healthcare or secondary datasets, including data cleaning and management.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team setting.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with GIS mapping.
• A strong commitment to community-engaged research and reducing health disparities.
• Experience with digital health technologies, such as patient portals, telehealth, or mobile health applications
• Familiarity with machine learning/predictive modeling in healthcare.
• Experience with big data tools (SQL, Spark) or cloud-based platforms (Azure, AWS).
• Proficiency in Spanish or other languages is highly desirable to support community-based research.

Responsibilities

• Prepare manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals and present research findings at national and international conferences.
• Assist in the development of grant proposals to secure funding for current and future research projects.
• Work with the Supervisor to develop a personalized professional growth plan with opportunities for publications, presentations, grant development, and career advancement.
• Develop and support mixed-methods research strategies to identify and address health disparities, particularly in rural and urban populations, through patient-centered and community-informed approaches.
• Design and implement survey tools such as REDCap or Qualtrics, and collect, manage, and analyze diverse datasets, including EHR (EPIC), surveys, interviews, and population-level data.
• Conduct interviews or focus groups, perform statistical and thematic analyses, and apply appropriate models (e.g., regression, ANOVA) to explore outcomes and associations.
• Leverage data from EHRs, patient portals, mobile health apps, and wearables to generate insights, predictive models, and decision-support tools; collaborate with informatics teams to evaluate and optimize digital intervention.
• Utilize methods such as machine learning / predictive modeling to identify trends or high-risk groups, and develop interactive dashboards (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, R, SAS) to communicate findings.
• Maintain reproducible research practices, ensure data quality and compliance, and uphold IRB and ethical standards throughout project execution.
• Collaborate with patients, clinicians, and community stakeholders to ensure research benefits all.
• Collaborate closely with patients, clinicians, community partners, and researchers across disciplines (public health, epidemiology, behavioral science, informatics) to ensure equitable impact and effective dissemination.
• Partner with researchers in public health, health services, epidemiology, behavioral sciences, and informatics to guide study design and dissemination.
• Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.

Benefits

• This position is intended to be eligible for benefits. This includes Health, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, a Retirement Plan, Paid time Off, and Tuition waivers for employees and dependents.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Industry: Educational Services
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 51-100 employees