Description

The Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy at Florida State University is recruiting a Postdoctoral Fellow for a one-year position (renewable for up to 3 years) beginning August 2026. The Pepper Institute brings together faculty and students from a range of social science, public policy, and health disciplines to examine how social factors, structures, and public policies shape health and well-being in aging societies (https://pepperinstitute.fsu.edu/about-us). The Fellow will work with Dr. Patricia Homan (PI) on an NICHD funded project focused on examining how state-level social and policy environments shape maternal and infant health outcomes in the United States.

The Fellow’s primary responsibility will be the compilation, cleaning, harmonization, and coding of state-level indicators across multiple public data sources to construct a rigorous state-by-year index spanning economic, educational, political, cultural, and health policy domains. This work will culminate in a publicly available dataset with documentation and replication code, providing a lasting resource for the field. Additional responsibilities include contributing to analyses and publications using fixed-effects panel models, multilevel models, and structural equation modeling to examine how changes in U.S. state contexts relate to maternal and infant health outcomes over the past two decades.

Requirements

Qualifications:

A Ph.D. in Public Health, Epidemiology, Sociology, Demography, Policy Studies, or a related social or behavioral science field. Ph.D. required within the last 5 years to apply. Proof of degree conferral is required before employment begins.
Demonstrate proficiency in quantitative research methods, including data management and analysis using statistical software (e.g., Stata, R, and or MPlus).
Experience working with medium to large datasets (e.g., survey, administrative, or health data).
Highly proficient with standard computer software and collaboration platforms, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Teams, and SharePoint (or similar tools).
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience contributing to manuscripts, reports, and conference presentations.
Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in fast-paced, team-based research environment. Strong organizational skills and attention to details to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
Strong preference will be given to candidates with experience in:

Building original datasets from multiple secondary data sources
Data cleaning, harmonization, and reproducible workflows
Factor analysis, index construction, and measurement validation
Longitudinal and panel data methods
Stata, R, and/or Mplus