NICHD funded post-doctorate Researchers

The Baby's First Years study team seeks one or more post-doctorate candidates to apply for postdoctoral funding to work with a principal investigator of the study, through an NIH administrative supplement. The candidate must meet the NIH’s specified eligibility as a member of an under-represented group in the health-related sciences.

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The position will be up to a two-year appointment with one of the core PIs at one of the PI universities.  Which university the position is housed in will depend on match and fit of the applicant with the core PI and their institution.  A list of study core principal investigators can be found here: https://www.babysfirstyears.com/people.

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The candidate will be responsible for crafting a proposal with independent research questions that complements the parent study.  Once a candidate is identified, details about the position appointment, the research proposal, and the formal application with the named candidate will move forward to NICHD for review. This process can take up to a year.

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To Apply:

Please submit a cover letter describing your interest and fit with the job and a CV to info@babysfirstyears.com. Applications will be reviewed as received. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews. See table below for application deadlines and possible start dates.

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Consideration of post doctorate applicants is open from October 2024 to March 2027.

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Study Description:

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The Baby’s First Years study is a pathbreaking random-assignment study of the impact of monthly unconditional cash gifts to low-income mothers of children during the first years of their child’s life. The aim is to understand the causal effects of poverty reduction on family life and early childhood development in order to inform policy. 1,000 racially and ethnically diverse mothers have been recruited from hospitals shortly after giving birth in each of four metropolitan areas —New York City, New Orleans, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Omaha, Nebraska. Forty percent of the mothers in each site were randomized to receive $333/month in cash and sixty percent receive $20/month in cash. More about the study can be found on our study website https://www.babysfirstyears.com and on https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03593356

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Post-Doctorate Qualifications:​

• Within 5 years of a PhD in child development, economics, neuroscience, public policy, psychology, sociology, or related field.

• Strong quantitative research skills

• Strong organizational skills

• Proficiency in Spanish preferred but not required 

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

• Experience with experimental (randomized) study designs a plus

• Meet the following NIH requirement: Citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States or individuals who have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States (ie. in the possession of a permanent resident card)  

• Meets NIH’s definition of a scholar from an under-represented group based on A) race/ethnicity, B) disability, C) disadvantaged background, and D) women of above categories:

 

In spite of tremendous advancements in scientific research, information, educational and research opportunities are not equally available to all. NIH encourages institutions to diversify their student, postdoctoral researchers and faculty populations to enhance the participation of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences, such as:

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A. Individuals from racial and ethnic groups that have been shown by the NSF to be underrepresented in health-related sciences on a national basis (see data at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/showpub.cfm?TopID=2&SubID=27) and the report Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering). The following racial and ethnic groups have been shown to be underrepresented in biomedical research: Blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. In addition, it is recognized that underrepresentation can vary from setting to setting; individuals from racial or ethnic groups that can be demonstrated convincingly to be underrepresented by the grantee institution should be encouraged to participate in this program. For more information on racial and ethnic categories and definitions, see the OMB Revisions to the Standards for Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1997-10-30/html/97-28653.htm).

B. Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major

life activities, as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended. See NSF data at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/2013/pdf/tab7-5_updated_2014_10.pdf.

C. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those who meet two or more of the following criteria: 

1. Were or currently are homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Definition: https://nche.ed.gov/mckinney-vento/); 

2. Were or currently are in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families (Definition: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/focus-areas/foster-care);

3. Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years (Definition: https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/income-eligibility-guidelines);

4. Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (see https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf);

5. Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants (Definition: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/eligibility.html);

6. Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child (Definition: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-eligibility-requirements). 

7. Grew up in one of the following areas: a) a U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer (https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health), or b) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas (qualifying zipcodes are included in the file). Only one of the two possibilities in #7 can be used as a criterion for the disadvantaged background definition. 

Students from low socioeconomic (SES) status backgrounds have been shown to obtain bachelor’s and advanced degrees at significantly lower rates than students from middle and high SES groups (see https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tva.asp), and are subsequently less likely to be represented in biomedical research. For background see Department of Education data at ,https://nces.ed.gov/; https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_tva.asp; https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/advancing-diversity-inclusion.pdf.

D. Literature shows that women from the above backgrounds (categories A, B, and C) face particular challenges at the graduate level and beyond in scientific fields. (See, e.g., From the NIH: A Systems Approach to Increasing the Diversity of Biomedical Research Workforce https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5008902/ ).

Women have been shown to be underrepresented in doctorate-granting research institutions at senior faculty levels in most biomedical-relevant disciplines, and may also be underrepresented at other faculty levels in some scientific disciplines (See data from the National Science Foundation National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering, special report available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2017/nsf17310/, especially Table 9-23, describing science, engineering, and health doctorate holders employed in universities and 4-year colleges, by broad occupation, sex, years since doctorate, and faculty rank).

Upon review of NSF data, and scientific discipline or field related data, NIH encourages institutions to consider women for faculty-level, diversity-targeted programs to address faculty recruitment, appointment, retention or advancement.