Postdoctoral Research Fellow Postdoctoral Research Fellow in AI and musculoskeletal health (diagnosis and virtual triage)

Academic

Job Category

Faculty Non Bargaining

Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Postdoctoral Research Fellow in AI and musculoskeletal health (diagnosis and virtual triage)

Department

Arden Laboratory | Department of Physical Therapy | Faculty of Medicine (Clare Ardern)

Posting End Date

February 8, 2026

Note : Applications will be accepted until 11 : 59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

February 28, 2027

The expected salary for this position is $90,000 per annum + benefits.

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Summary

Many Canadians living with ongoing muscle, bone, or joint (musculoskeletal) pain face long waits for diagnosis and care. Because pain often does not appear on scans or tests, it is frequently misunderstood or dismissed. Current digital triage tools such as HealthLink 811 and Ada are not specifically designed for musculoskeletal issues and perform poorly for these conditions. The DigiMSK lab studies how digital health tools could improve communication between patients and clinicians and speed up diagnosis.

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will lead work to develop prototypes of patient-centred generative AI tools that reduce musculoskeletal diagnostic delay and support access to musculoskeletal care. This position offers the opportunity to work at the intersection of AI and health sciences, focusing on developing machine learning approaches to diagnosing musculoskeletal pain conditions, including low back pain and osteoarthritis. The fellow will be supported to apply for grants to extend work in this field.

Organizational Status

Dr Clare Ardern’s DigiMSK research lab is based at UBC’s Department of Physical Therapy Fraser Valley site (City Centre 1 building in Surrey, BC) and Centre for Aging SMART at Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will report to Dr Ardern, and interact with other research team members, including researchers and staff at UBC, the Centre for Aging SMART, and Fraser Health, Northern Health and Provincial Health Services Authority. The DigiMSK team currently comprises the PI (Dr Ardern), a Senior Research Associate, a Postdoctoral Fellow, a Qualitative Research Analyst, a Patient Partner and Accessible Design Specialist, and 3 undergraduate / graduate research assistants. The DigiMSK Clinical Advisory Board of health system partners (patients, clinicians and health system leaders) from national and international healthcare settings, provides specific guidance and input on all research projects.

The Centre for Aging SMART at Vancouver Coastal Health is a UBC Senate-approved research center within the Faculty of Medicine and affiliated with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. The Centre’s interdisciplinary research is conducted under the pillars of mobility, activity, rehabilitation, and technology. The DigiMSK lab leads community-based research projects that study how digital technologies can improve underserved communities’ access to health care.

UBC’s AI & Health Network Fellows Program delivers advanced training and mentorship to nurture future leaders who will drive innovation and transformation in healthcare through interdisciplinary research in artificial intelligence. Enabled by a $ gift from the Gordon B. Shrum Charitable Fund to the UBC Faculty of Medicine in 2025, the AI & Health Network supports research using natural language processing, large language models and foundation models to address real-world challenges in : (1) clinical practice and patient experience and (2) biomedical innovation and translational sciences.

Responsibilities

• Develop Clinical Language Models
• Develop the clinical reasoning capabilities and safety of AI models via integration of domain-specific knowledge
• Conduct domain-specific fine-tuning to iteratively refine AI models with a focus on acceptability, factuality and safety
• Work with patient and clinician partners to iteratively tune AI models in response to user priorities
• Identify research funding sources and assist with grant writing
• Participate in weekly team meetings, contributing to discussion and mentoring of other research team members
• Lead on preparing scientific manuscripts and presentations
• Prepare reports for health system partners

Supervision Received

The Fellow will work under the general direction of Dr Ardern, with mentorship from the wider project team, which includes professors and highly qualified research staff in medicine, computer science, and human-centred computing.

Supervision Given

The Fellow may supervise junior research team members (including undergraduate research trainees).

Qualifications

The expected salary for this position is $90,000 per annum + benefits. The Faculty of Medicine is committed to offering equitable and competitive salaries, commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate. The position is full-time for 1 year with the possibility of extension subject to work performance and funding availability.

Application Details

Applicants must include the following in an application package :

Submit applications via email to :

Dr Clare Ardern, Department of Physical Therapy

Subject : Postdoctoral fellow - AI and health

Email :

For any queries about the position, please email . Review of applications will begin on 17 January 2026, and continue until the position is filled. The anticipated start date for this position is 1 March 2026, or earlier as negotiated.

We invite applications from qualified candidates who share our commitment to employment equity and inclusive excellence, and we welcome applications from candidates belonging to historically, persistently, or systemically marginalized groups : Indigenous (First Nation, Métis, Inuit) Peoples, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and trans and non-binary people.

With gratitude, we acknowledge that the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine and its distributed programs, which include four university academic campuses, are located on traditional and unceded territories of First Nations Peoples and communities around the province.

Our Vision : To Transform Health for Everyone.

Ranked among the world’s top medical schools with the fifth-largest MD enrollment in North America, the UBC Faculty of Medicine is a leader in both the science and the practice of medicine. Across British Columbia, more than 12,000 faculty and staff are training the next generation of doctors and health care professionals, making remarkable discoveries, and helping to create the pathways to better health for our communities at home and around the world.

The Faculty - comprising approximately 2,200 administrative support, technical / research and management and professional staff, as well approximately 650 full-time academic and over 10,000 clinical faculty members - is composed of 19 academic basic science and / or clinical departments, three schools, and 24 research centres and institutes. Together with its University and Health Authority partners, the Faculty delivers innovative programs and conducts research in the areas of health and life sciences. Faculty, staff and trainees are located at university campuses, clinical academic campuses in hospital settings and other regionally based centres across the province.

UBC - One of the World's Leading Universities. As one of the world's leading universities, the University of British Columbia creates an exceptional learning environment that fosters global citizenship, advances a civil and sustainable society, and supports outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada and the world.

UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity. All qualified persons are encouraged to apply. Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and / or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.

Benefits

Plan Group Number :  020605Member ID : your 7-digit UBC employee ID number, Need crisis counselling?, Call GreenShield Health at 1-866-424-0770 to chat with a counsellor., Disclaimer, The benefits information on this website is provided as a descriptive summary only. While the University has endeavored to accurately reflect its benefit programs, policies and plans, the information on this website does not create any contractual or other rights between the University and its faculty and staff members. To the extent that there are any conflicts or discrepancies between the benefits information on this website and the benefit plan documents (including group insurance contracts and benefit booklets) or any applicable collective agreement, employment agreement, or UBC policy, the benefit plan documents and collective agreement, employment agreement, or UBC policy will govern in all cases.