Health and Human Info Policy Research Fellow (Hybrid) – Cordell Institute for Policy in Medicine & Law Full-time NEW

Health And Human Information Policy Research Fellow

The Cordell Institute for Policy in Medicine & Law at Washington University seeks a full-time Health and Human Information Policy Research Fellow for a one-year term. This position operates in a hybrid work environment and is expected to be based in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The Cordell Institute's mission is to devise solutions to the novel ethical, legal, and policy questions accompanying scientific and technological advancements in healthcare. The Institute advances interdisciplinary scholarship and practical solutions at the intersection of law, medicine, public health, technology, and governance, with a particular focus on strengthening accountability, innovation, and public trust as information about people moves across clinical, commercial, and research settings.

The Health and Human Information Policy Research Fellow will contribute to research and thought leadership examining the legal, ethical, and governance challenges arising from emerging technologies, data systems, and evolving health policies, with particular emphasis on health and human information that moves beyond the clinical setting into consumer applications, research pipelines, and the training and deployment of artificial intelligence. Particular attention will be given to the duties of the institutions that collect, hold, and share such information, and to issues involving privacy, civil liberties, civil rights, equity, accountability, public trust, and democratic governance in healthcare, public health, and related systems.

Under the supervision of the Institute's executive director and faculty co-directors, and potentially in coordination with other faculty, departments, and external partners, the Fellow will conduct interdisciplinary legal and policy research that contributes to scholarly publications, policy analyses, white papers, and other public-facing products. Research may address topics such as health law and policy, public health law, health governance, health information policy and data stewardship, artificial intelligence and data governance, civil liberties, legal epidemiology, policy surveillance, and privacy law. The Fellow will work closely with Institute leadership to define the scope and objectives of specific projects and identify meaningful deliverables aligned with the Institute's strategic priorities. Deliverables may include peer-reviewed scholarship, policy briefs, model provisions and institutional toolkits, coded legal datasets, and public-facing policy maps.

Primary duties and responsibilities include:

• Designing and managing one or more research projects aligned with the Institute's strategic priorities.
• Conducting interdisciplinary legal and policy research addressing questions at the intersection of health and human information, law, technology, governance, and civil liberties.
• Contributing to a policy surveillance or legal epidemiology projects, including the systematic coding of state and federal laws governing health and human information so that legal change can be measured across jurisdictions and over time.
• Conducting research examining how legal and governance frameworks can promote innovation while protecting privacy, civil liberties, accountability, equity, and public trust.
• Developing translational products that cart law to the practitioners who must apply it, such as model provisions, institutional toolkits, bench materials, and practical guidance written for administrators and counsel.
• Preparing and submitting scholarly articles, policy briefs, white papers, reports, legal analyses, website content, blogs, and op-eds in a timely manner.
• Presenting research findings and policy analyses to academic, legal, governmental, healthcare, public health, and community audiences.
• Assisting in developing and delivering training, workshops, conferences, and presentations hosted by the Cordell Institute and its partners.
• Supporting interdisciplinary collaborations with faculty, students, clinicians, policymakers, researchers, and external partners.
• Assisting in the planning and execution of Cordell Institute programs and events.
• Contributing to grant-funded initiatives, partnership development, and dissemination of Institute research and thought leadership, including support for external funding applications to federal and foundation sponsors.
• Maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, professionalism, and ethical conduct.
• Participating in staff meetings and other Cordell Institute initiatives as assigned.

Salary range: Base pay is commensurate with experience.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required qualifications:

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school or completion of all requirements or a J.D. by the fellowship start date.
• Demonstrated interest in health law, health policy, public health law, administrative law, health information and data privacy law, civil liberties, technology law, or related fields.
• Outstanding demonstrated research, writing, and analytical skills.
• Outstanding demonstrated oral communication skills and demonstrated ability to present complex ideas to diverse audiences.
• Strong organizational, project management, and time-management skills.
• Self-discipline and ability to work independently with minimal day-to-day supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain productive working relationships with students, colleagues, community partners, and external stakeholders.
• Ability to synthesize legal, policy, scientific, and technical information into clear and actionable insights.
• Ability to read, interpret, and code statutory and regulatory text with precision across jurisdictions.

Preferred qualifications:

• Additional advanced degree (e.g., Ph.D., Dr.P.H., M.P.H., M.P.P., M.S., M.A., or equivalent) in public health, public policy, systems science, political science, sociology, economics, data science, international studies, or a related field.
• Demonstrated interest, expertise, or scholarly work in one or more of the following areas: Health law and health policy; Public health law; Vaccination law and immunization policy; Civil liberties, civil rights, privacy, health information policy, or data governance; Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies; Health equity and structural determinants of health; Comparative or international health law and policy, including cross-border data transfer and compliance; Health systems, governance, and systems science.
• Experience supporting federally funded, foundation-funded, or other externally funded research, policy, evaluation, or implementation projects.
• Experience conducting qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, policy, legal, or interdisciplinary research.
• Familiarity with statistical, qualitative, or analytic software (e.g., R, Stata, SAS, Python, NVivo, or similar platforms), or with legal coding and policy surveillance platforms.
• Familiarity with legal epidemiology and policy surveillance.
• Demonstrated record of scholarly writing, policy analysis, publication, or other research dissemination activities.
• Experience working across government, nonprofit, academic, advocacy, healthcare, or private-sector policy environments.
• Health data stewardship, information fiduciary duties, and data loyalty.