Advanced Fellow

NJ VA War Related Illness & Injury Study Center; East Orange (NJ); On-site; USD 58,000 - 71,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid vacation

Paid sick days

Job summary

The VA New Jersey Health Care System’s War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center is accepting applications for a research-focused Post-Doctoral Fellow to join the Behavioral Health Research Laboratory at the EXPRT Center. The fellowship emphasizes mentorship toward independence and opportunities in grant writing, data analysis, and trial implementation. The ideal candidate has a Ph.D.

or Psy.D. in psychology or related fields, US citizenship, and a strong publication record, with interests in

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or Psy.D. in clinical or counseling psychology, public health, or related field.
• US citizenship required.
• APA-accredited program and internship completed for psychology applicants.

Responsibilities

• Submit first-authored and co-authored manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals and present findings at national conferences.
• Assist in preparing grants and applications to funding agencies for research support.
• Lead on grant writing efforts to gain independence as a researcher.
• Contribute to data analysis efforts.
• Help develop and implement clinical research trials and other studies.

Education

Ph.D. or Psy.D. in clinical or counseling psychology, public health, or related field

Job description

Overview:

The War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC) at the VA New Jersey Health Care System is accepting applications for a research-focused Post-Doctoral Fellow to join Dr. Lisa McAndrew’s Behavioral Health Research Laboratory (BHRL), located within the Exposure-Related Care Transformation (EXPRT) Center at the VA NJ WRIISC. This WRIISC fellowship is sponsored by the VA Office of Academic Affiliations.

The EXPRT Center (https://www.warrelatedillness.va.gov/WARRELATEDILLNESS/EXPRT/index.asp) has a mission to transform care and improve the health of Veterans with military environmental exposure concerns through research, education, clinical application, and evaluation activities. Within EXPRT, the BHRL team conducts research with Veterans living with Gulf War Illness, medically unexplained illnesses (such as chronic multisymptom illness [CMI] and long-COVID), chronic pain, and other complex health conditions and symptoms related to military and environmental exposures. Our research focuses on understanding Veterans’ views of their health, developing innovative, patient-centered behavioral interventions, and implementing these interventions in the VA healthcare system. Opportunities exist to develop skills in multiple areas within applied clinical research. Content areas of special focus include behavioral treatment for CMI, military exposure-informed care, provider education, health services research, implementation research, and patient-provider communication.

The overarching goals of the fellowship are for fellows to develop the full range of skills required to become an independent investigator. We use a mentorship team model in which the fellow receives both individual and team mentorship in support of professional goals, which may include licensure.

The VA New Jersey WRIISC (www.warrelatedillness.va.gov) is a tertiary care center located just outside of New York City that specializes in serving Veterans who have difficult-to-diagnose, disabling illnesses through clinical care, risk communication, education, and research addressing potential environmental exposures and adverse health outcomes. Faculty at the WRIISC have expertise in clinical psychology, behavioral medicine, medically unexplained illness, health services, health communication, neuropsychology, women’s health, exercise science, integrative physiology, and imaging, and many have appointments at various academic institutions. Our fellowship program offers several educational didactics, which provide opportunities to gain additional experiences in these areas.

Current Projects:

• Federally-funded study adapting known effective provider communication styles to treat long COVID.
• A large, federally-funded clinical trial examining implementation of collaborative specialty care for Veterans with Gulf War Illness.
• A multi-year federally-funded clinical trial of a health coaching intervention for Veterans with pain-predominant CMI.
• An online health coaching treatment for Veterans with chronic physical symptoms.
• Federally-funded multi-site prospective longitudinal study of doctor-patient relationships.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Submit first-authored and co-authored manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals, and present findings at national conferences.
• Assist in preparing grants and applications to funding agencies for research support.
• Training and consultation in grant writing is available, and the fellow will be encouraged to lead on grant writing efforts to gain the skills and experience necessary to become an independent investigator.
• The fellow will contribute to data analysis efforts.
• The fellow will help lead the development and implementation of clinical research trials and other studies.

Additional Opportunities:

• Opportunities may exist to provide clinical interventions and assessments as part of randomized clinical trials or clinical pilot projects.
• The fellow will receive training in and provide crisis intervention as a member of the lab and department Distress Response Team.
• Opportunities may exist to deliver trainings to predoctoral psychology trainees and others in the department.

Required Qualifications:

• A publication history and a burgeoning program of research.
• Ph.D. or Psy.D. in clinical or counseling psychology, public health, or related field; psychology applicants must have graduated from an APA-accredited program and completed an APA-accredited internship.
• US citizenship.
• Please see this link for information about trainee eligibility: https://www.va.gov/oaa/hpt-eligibility.asp .

Ideal Candidate:

• Motivated and seeking skills and training to become an independent investigator.
• Passion for improving quality of care for Veterans and conducting innovative, groundbreaking clinical research in the areas of health psychology and behavioral health.
• Interest in working with individuals with chronic pain, medically unexplained illness, and physical health problems.
• Collaborative, and values working in a positive and productive culture.

Instructions to Applicants:

• The annual stipend is established by the Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) and is subject to their determination. The 2027-2028 stipend for first year psychology postdoctoral fellows at VA New Jersey is $64,247.
• Trainees are eligible for health insurance and accrue paid vacation and sick days.