Careers in Quality

Investigators at Michigan State University (MSU, Flint, MI) and Henry Ford Health System (HFHS, Detroit, MI) are pleased to announce joint plans to recruit two postdoctoral fellows for a two-year fellowship to commence in the spring/summer/fall of 2022.  The positions will be associated with a NIMH-funded P50 Center, the National Center for Health and Justice Integration for Suicide Prevention (NCHATS). Aspiring independent researchers will be trained broadly in mental health services research with a focus on the intersection between police/legal/justice systems and health/mental health care, especially for suicide prevention. We estimate that 21% of adults in the U.S. who die by suicide spent at least one night in jail during the prior 12 months, making justice involvement and subsequent healthcare system engagement an important locus of intervention for suicide prevention, as well as for substance use disorders, serious mental illness, sexually transmitted infections, and many other conditions. Areas of particular interest and training for postdoctoral fellows will be in mental healthcare access, implementation science, clinical and implementation trials, healthcare service delivery, big data, mental health equity, and health policy.

The program will support fellows in the transition to becoming independent mental health services researchers able to pursue NIH funding. Fellows will work locally alongside a primary mentor at MSU or HFHS. They will also receive high-quality mentorship and training from other scientists within multiple formats across the entire Center, which includes 28 investigators from 12 institutions, including MSU, HFHS, Brown University and affiliated hospitals, Harvard University and affiliated hospitals, Columbia University, Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation, and a large Medicaid Managed Care Organization, among others. Mentor disciplines include clinical psychology, social work, public health, communication, statistics, biomedical informatics, economics, health equity, medicine, law, and criminal justice, among others. One of the fellows will be based at MSU with Dr. Jennifer E. Johnson, with daily activities focused primarily on implementation and dissemination science. The other fellow will be based at HFHS with Dr. Brian K. Ahmedani, with daily activities focused primarily on conduct of large randomized trials within health system settings.

Postdoctoral fellows will attend training activities provided by the HFHS-based T32 program (led by Dr. Brian Ahmedani) affiliated with the Mental Health Research Network, and will have access to the Brown University-based T32 training activities in suicide prevention (led by Dr. Lauren Weinstock and Dr. Ivan Miller). In addition to one-on-one mentoring in the fellows' areas of interest, they will also receive training in grant writing, manuscript development, implementation science, health systems research methods (e.g., multi-site trials, use of electronic health record and claims data), quantitative and qualitative methods, ethics, professional/career development, and conduct of clinical and implementation trials.

Minimum Requirements

Successful applicants will have a PhD, MD, or DrPH in psychology or other clinical disciplines, public health, health services research, health policy, or related field

Desired Qualifications

• Excellent writing skills
• Peer-reviewed journal articles published or in press, including first-author article/s
• Experience using quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Experience/training in mental health, suicide prevention, and/or police, legal, or justice settings
• Training and/or experience in implementation science research
• An interest in/understanding of equity issues and social determinants of mental health
• Demonstrated ability to effectively interact with a broad range of colleagues and interdisciplinary teams
• Strong organizational skills