Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering

The Postdoctoral Research Scholar in the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering will contribute to an interdisciplinary research program focused on environmental health, waterborne pathogens, and quantitative risk assessment. The successful candidate will lead quantitative modeling and data analysis efforts for Legionnaires disease outbreak investigations and quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), while supporting additional projects involving spatial analysis of environmental hazards and health risks. The scholar will work collaboratively with faculty, students, government agencies, and external research partners to develop innovative analytical approaches that inform public health decision-making and environmental risk management.

This position offers opportunities to lead independent research, mentor students and research staff, contribute to grant-funded projects, publish in high-impact journals, and present findings at scientific conferences and stakeholder meetings.

Essential Duties:

• Lead quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) modeling for Legionnaires disease outbreak investigations and related environmental health projects.
• Design, develop, implement, and validate computational models for microbial exposure assessment, disease transmission, and environmental risk characterization.
• Conduct advanced statistical, computational, and spatial analyses of environmental and public health datasets.
• Develop and maintain reproducible analytical workflows using R or similar programming languages.
• Interpret complex datasets and translate findings into actionable recommendations for public health and environmental management.
• Lead preparation of scientific manuscripts, technical reports, presentations, and grant-related deliverables.
• Present research findings at scientific meetings, stakeholder workshops, and meetings with government agencies and research collaborators.
• Mentor and supervise graduate and undergraduate students, research staff, and trainees involved in modeling and analytical projects.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary research teams, including environmental engineers, microbiologists, epidemiologists, and public health professionals.
• Contribute to laboratory-based research activities, including culture-based and molecular analyses of environmental samples for pathogenic microorganisms and associated microbial communities, as appropriate.
• Interface with local, state, and federal government officials, industry partners, and academic collaborators to support collaborative research initiatives.
• Participate in proposal development and contribute to expanding the laboratorys research portfolio.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.