Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Learning Health System (LHS) Full-time

Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Learning Health System (LHS)

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Emergency Medicine in The University of British Columbia (UBC) will support the early development of a provincial Learning Health System (LHS) for emergency care in British Columbia.

The first phase of this work is supported by external research funding and focuses on co-designing and testing the foundational components of a provincial LHS, including governance, priority-setting approaches, learning-cycle processes, and early dashboard and measurement concepts. Substance use care, including opioid-related emergency care, will serve as an initial use case.

The successful candidate will work within a collaborative provincial initiative involving UBC, Emergency Care BC (ECBC), and partners across British Columbia's emergency care system. ECBC is a provincial network that supports collaboration across health authorities, clinicians, patients, and partners to improve the quality, coordination, and delivery of emergency care. Through this partnership, the role will contribute to practical processes that support continuous learning and improvement across the province.

The postdoctoral fellow will receive day-to-day supervision from Dr. Erica Lau, with mentorship from research, health system, Indigenous, and lived/living experience partners who co-lead this work. The position will provide opportunities for mentorship, manuscript development, conference presentations, grant development, and collaboration with provincial health system partners.

The vision of the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine is to be a provincially integrated Department committed to clinical and academic leadership in the creation and exchange of knowledge to promote excellence in emergency care. Our faculty members have an impressive record of research and discovery. Our research and innovation initiatives include 12 successful programs related to prevention and harm reduction, improving clinical care, and health system improvement.

Responsibilities

• Supporting the development and operationalization of LHS governance, priority-setting, and learning-cycle processes
• Leading and contributing to mixed-methods research and evaluation activities, including scoping, synthesis, qualitative analysis, and quantitative analysis where appropriate
• Leading and participating in stakeholder engagement and co-design activities, including working group meetings, listening sessions, and site visits
• Working with CEDRN and other data/analytics teams to develop analytic plans, conduct or support analyses using available emergency care data where appropriate, interpret findings, and translate results into actionable insights
• Supporting the development of practical tools, dashboard concepts, implementation resources, progress summaries, and project deliverables for research, health system, and community partners
• Contributing to manuscripts, conference presentations, reports, grant development, research ethics, privacy, data governance, and knowledge translation activities, where applicable

Qualifications

• A doctoral degree obtained within the last five years, or completed by the start of the position, in a relevant field such as implementation science, epidemiology, health services and policy research, public health, or a related field
• Strong quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research skills
• Experience developing analytic plans and conducting data analysis using relevant software such as R, SAS, Stata, NVivo, or equivalent
• Experience with collaborative, partner-engaged, community-engaged, or co-design research approaches
• Ability to work effectively across diverse stakeholders and disciplines, including clinicians, health system partners, and community or lived/living experience groups
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and contribute in collaborative, evolving research environments
• Strong communication, writing, organizational, and interpersonal skills, with attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple timelines
• Experience or strong interest in implementation science, applied health services research, and health system improvement
• Interest in emergency care, substance use research, or Learning Health Systems is preferred
• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one's own.
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one's own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.