Epidemiologist​/Health Services Researcher

Position Overview

The Department of Surgery at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center (BMC) jointly invite applications for a full-time research faculty member specializing in surgical epidemiology and health services research. Academic rank will be commensurate with experience (Assistant Professor or Associate Professor).

This position offers a distinctive opportunity to embed rigorous epidemiologic and outcomes science within a Level I trauma center and one of the nation's largest urban, safety-net hospital systems. The successful candidate will develop an independently funded research program in close partnership with the Department's surgical divisions. The Department supports a full spectrum of research activity, from observational outcomes studies and health equity investigation to interventional and pragmatic clinical trials, all anchored by BMC's exceptional clinical volume, operative case mix, and patient diversity.

Boston University is a leading private research university and one of the largest in the United States, with strengths spanning medicine, public health, engineering, and the social sciences. Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine is consistently ranked among the nation's leading academic medical centers, with particular depth in aging biology, cancer biology, cardiovascular medicine, infectious disease, and health equity research.

The primary teaching hospital of the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, BMC is the largest safety-net hospital and one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in New England, serving one of the most racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse urban patient populations in the United States. This clinical environment provides an unparalleled substrate for surgical epidemiology, outcomes research, health equity investigation, pragmatic trial implementation, and population-level intervention science.

The Department of Surgery is a dynamic, mission-driven academic enterprise encompassing 12 clinical divisions:
Cardiac Surgery, Colon and Rectal Surgery, General Surgery, Minimally Invasive and Weight Loss Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Podiatric Surgery, Surgical Oncology, Thoracic Surgery, Transplant Surgery, Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, and Vascular and Endovascular Surgery. Supported by federal funding, foundation awards, and industry partnerships, the Department maintains an active and growing research enterprise with ongoing clinical trials across multiple surgical disciplines.

It is home to an NIH-funded T32 Research Training Grant and the Boston Trauma Institute, reflecting a sustained institutional commitment to research infrastructure and investigator development. Faculty benefit from dedicated research space, a shared infrastructure, a departmental Research Council, and a research-primary appointment structure designed to support full commitment to scholarly productivity.

We seek a candidate whose scholarly interests align with one or more of the following priority areas. Exceptional candidates with adjacent expertise are encouraged to apply:

• Surgical outcomes and quality improvement, including disparity-focused analyses of perioperative morbidity, mortality, and complications across surgical specialties, leveraging BMC's NSQIP participation and clinical data infrastructure
• Geriatric surgery and surgical risk, including frailty, functional decline, and postoperative recovery in older adults undergoing elective and emergency procedures, with integration into BMC's Geriatric Pre-Procedure Clinic and BU Center for Aging Research
• Wound care epidemiology, including health system utilization, care fragmentation, and disparities in access to advanced wound therapies in aging and safety-net populations, complementing existing NIH-funded wound healing research programs
• Health equity and access to surgical care, with emphasis on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and social determinants of health as drivers of operative timing, surgical offer rates, and postoperative outcomes
• Health services research methods and clinical trial science, including comparative effectiveness, pragmatic and stepped-wedge trial design, implementation science, and use of large administrative databases including Medicare/Medicaid claims, NSQIP, NCI SEER, and institutional EHR
• Surgical oncology outcomes and cancer disparities, including…