Research Fellow, Community Health Science, School of Public Health, Boston

at  Boston University

HEY! LAB | GORDON TEAM RESEARCH FELLOW, BUSPH

The Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health has a long history and national reputation of applying social and behavioral sciences to enhance the health and wellbeing of communities and promote health equity. A Research Fellow position is available within the Healthy and Empowered Youth Lab (the HEY! Lab) on the team of Dr. Allegra Gordon, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The Research Fellow will assist the Principal Investigator (PI) and study coordinator with the operation of a multi-year study related to mental health among LGBTQ adolescents and young adults. This study seeks to improve our understanding of how mental health during late adolescence and early adulthood (ages 18-24 years) is influenced by four types of LGBTQ-targeted policies (e.g., religious exemptions, gender affirming healthcare bans, LGBTQ-supportive school curricula). The study is part of a larger collaboration between researchers at Boston University School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School. The Research Fellow will help implement the qualitative arm of this project, which seeks to identify and explore the pathways by which LGBTQ-targeted policies can affect the mental health of LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ young people. The Research Fellow work on this project will include: (1) supporting recruitment and enrollment of study participants, (2) conducting in-depth interviews with young adults living across the United States, and (3) assisting with qualitative data management, coding, and analysis.
Research Fellow duties include: supporting participant recruitment processes; scheduling and conducting in-depth interviews; cleaning, entering, managing, and analyzing data (largely qualitative, some quantitative); assisting with development and maintenance of study protocols, forms, and instruments; assisting with correspondence and other materials needed for audits, and reporting to sponsor; maintaining a study-related website; and providing administrative support to the study, including participating in study team meetings and assisting the study coordinator with other administrative tasks as needed. The Research Fellow will work with students, faculty, and other Research Fellows. Depending on the Research Fellow’s background and skills, there may also be opportunities to be involved in quantitative data collection and analysis for the larger research study. The Research Fellow will assist the PI with literature reviews and have opportunities for authorship on academic publications and presentations.
Required Skills
Candidates should have an interest in public health and/or health research. Specific interest in mental and behavioral health, sexual and gender minority health, adolescent and young adult health, and/or effects of policy environments on health inequities is a plus.
Candidates should be: (1) highly organized and attentive to detail; (2) interpersonally skilled, warm, empathic; (3) highly efficient across a range of tasks and studies; (4) able to work effectively both independently and in a team; (5) have strong written and verbal communication skills; and (6) have strong computer skills (e.g., Word, Excel).
Candidates should have experience with: (1) behavioral research in a clinic or a public health setting (this experience can be part of educational preparation); and (2) qualitative research methods. Experience with in-depth interviewing, survey programming (REDCap or Qualtrics), and/or qualitative data analysis software (NVivo or Dedoose) are a plus.

Candidates must have at least one of the following:

• A Bachelor’s degree in public health or a related field and at least 2 years of research experience
• A Master’s degree in public health or a related field

About the HEY! Lab: Drs. Kimberly Nelson and Allegra Gordon co-direct the HEY! Lab. Drs. Lynsie Ranker and Gabe Murchison are core faculty members. Members of the HEY! Lab conduct research on adolescent and young adult health, particularly sexual health, access to health care, eating disorders, body image, and substance use. You can learn more about the HEY! Lab here: https://sites.bu.edu/heylab/

Please refer the Job description for details