Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Academic

Job Category

Faculty Non Bargaining

Job Title

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Department

Stringhini Laboratory | School of Population and Public Health | Faculty of Medicine (Silvia Stringhini)

Posting End Date

July 16, 2026

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

Job End Date

August 31, 2027

The expected salary for this position is 60K to 75K per annum, based on experience. The Faculty of Medicine is committed to offering equitable and competitive salaries, commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate.

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.

The Stringhini Lab at the UBC School of Population and Public Health is seeking a full-time (1.0 FTE) Postdoctoral Research Fellow for a one-year (renewable) appointment. The individual will have outstanding quantitative skills to lead analyses on our ageing research program. The successful candidate will work at the intersection of life-course epidemiology, causal inference, and artificial intelligence to advance our understanding of the biological pathways linking social exposures to healthy and unhealthy ageing. This is a highly autonomous, intellectually stimulating position suited for a researcher who thrives on methodological innovation and collaborative science.

The ideal applicant will possess a curiosity and passion for science, as well as deep expertise in quantitative epidemiological methods, statistical modelling, and causal inference. Accurate attention to detail is essential.

This position reports to the lead Principal Investigator Dr. Silvia Stringhini (School of Population and Public Health and Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Ageing). The position will support students and other staff members.

The Stringhini Lab at the UBC School of Population and Public Health investigates the social and environmental determinants of health across the life course, with a particular focus on biological embedding and biological ageing. We use worldwide multi-cohort data to examine how life-course socioeconomic conditions become biologically embedded, as measured by epigenetic clocks, allostatic load, telomere length, and other biomarkers of ageing. Our methodological approach is strongly quantitative and causally oriented, integrating causal inference frameworks (directed acyclic graphs, g-computation, propensity score methods, instrumental variables, and natural experiments), counterfactual mediation analysis in its various forms (natural direct and indirect effects, interventional effects, multiple mediation), and advanced longitudinal modelling (mixed-effects models, growth curve models, latent class trajectories) with machine learning and AI-based approaches. The Lab is embedded within the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Ageing and benefits from a rich international network of collaborators.

Housed within the Faculty of Medicine, the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) is an innovative unit that encompasses many of the health-related groupings at UBC as a collaborative venture. The School is structured around four divisions: Global and Environmental Health; Health Services and Policy; Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Public Health Practice; and Health in Populations. The resulting mix of professions and disciplines is seen as a means of connecting individuals and learners to galvanize the relationship between health research, public health and health services and to enhance learning.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to Dr. Stringhini, the incumbent will be responsible for:

• Leads statistical analyses on multi-cohort longitudinal data, focusing on social determinants of biological ageing outcomes and the mediating role of concurrent factors.
• Develops and applies causal inference frameworks — including counterfactual mediation analysis in its various forms (natural direct and indirect effects, interventional effects, multiple mediation) — to ageing research questions.
• Implements and adapts machine learning and AI-based approaches for high-dimensional epidemiological data, including variable selection, prediction modelling, and data integration.
• Retrieves, harmonizes, and preprocesses multi-cohort longitudinal datasets to ensure comparability across different study designs and measurement structures, ensuring reproducibility and adherence to FAIR data principles.
• Leads and co-authors peer-reviewed manuscripts; presents findings at national and international conferences.
• Contributes to ongoing strategic planning for the lab’s epidemiological analysis needs; collaborates with the principal investigator to identify funding opportunities and develop grant proposals.
• Mentors graduate students and junior lab members.
• Participates actively in lab meetings, journal clubs, and collaborator calls.
• Maintains and develops up-to-date knowledge of current information technology techniques and tools, especially as they apply to epidemiological analysis.
• Other related duties as required.

The incumbent will make important decisions affecting the productivity of the lab. Poor judgment could result in loss of experimental data and delay in conducting research, which could impact collaborations, publications, and future funding. Studies may be jeopardized if not conducted according to ethical requirements as laid out by the University and by regulatory authorities. Study files must be kept secured to ensure that patient confidentiality is not compromised. An error within the realm of a research study may result in biased or incomplete data and skewed study results. Errors made and poor decisions may be damaging to the reputation of the Principal Investigator, the School, and the University and could lead to incorrect or inappropriate policy recommendations being made.

This position will be responsible for access, collection, use and disclosure of personal information in accordance with the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996) and other UBC privacy and security policies. This position requires employees to work under strict confidentiality requirements; internal procedures and policies to protect personal information must be followed and adherence to these requirements will be regularly reviewed by the employer.

QUALIFICATIONS

Successful applicants will have:

• Completed PhD within 5 years in a relevant discipline (epidemiology, biostatistics, statistics, bioinformatics, or a closely related quantitative discipline). Candidates who have submitted but not yet defended are eligible to apply.
• Demonstrated expertise in causal inference methods (e.g., counterfactual mediation, propensity scores, DAGs, g-formula, instrumental variables, natural experiments).
• Strong experience with mediation analysis in its various forms, including traditional and causal (counterfactual) mediation, natural direct and indirect effects, interventional effects, and multi-mediator (multiple mediation) approaches.
• Experience with machine learning / AI methods applied to health or omics data.
• Advanced proficiency in R and/or Python; experience with reproducible workflows (Git/GitHub, R Markdown/Quarto).
• Extensive experience working with large-scale longitudinal or multi-cohort datasets, preferably from population cohort studies.
• Familiarity with biological ageing markers (epigenetic clocks, allostatic load, telomere length) is an asset.
• Experience with omics data integration (epigenomics, metabolomics, proteomics) is an asset.
• Knowledge of data harmonization platforms (e.g., Maelstrom Research guidelines) is an asset.
• Experience with high-performance computing environments (Unix/HPC clusters) is an asset.
• Strong publication records commensurate with career stage.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Ability to develop and maintain cooperative and productive working relationships.
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and work effectively under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Must conduct all activities ethically and maintain the confidentiality of funding information and research data.
• 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.

The expected salary for this position is 60K to 75K per annum, based on experience. The Faculty of Medicine is committed to offering equitable and competitive salaries, commensurate with the qualifications and experience of the candidate.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

An application package should include:

• A letter of application outlining the applicant’s research interests and experience;
• A detailed curriculum vitae;
• Contact information for 2 referees

Applications should be submitted online at (JR24926).

Should you have any queries around this position, please contact Keenan Elliott at .

Review of applications will begin on July 18, 2026 and continue until the position is filled. The anticipated start date for this position is September 1, 2026 or upon a date to be mutually agreed.

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, ancestral 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 - comprised of 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 qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, 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.