Population Health and Data Science T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow - PM&R

At VCU, we take pride in our deep commitment to our postdoctoral community. In 2026, the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) named VCU as one of only 12 recipients of its inaugural Institutional Policy Awards, in recognition of our transformative efforts to elevate quality of life and workplace equity for postdocs. VCU postdocs are Virginia state employees, with benefits mirroring 12-month faculty.

We adhere closely to the NPA’s guidelines for best practices in postdoc training. We work closely with our local NPA chapter, the VCU Postdoc Association, to make this a welcoming and productive place to complete your training!

School Of Medicine MBU

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Background:
We are recruiting postdoctoral scholars for the NIH-funded T32 Postdoctoral Training Program in Translational Population Health and Data Science Using Service Member, Veteran and Civilian Healthcare Datasets. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the Central Virginia VA Health Care System have partnered to create a unique big data analytics post-doctoral training program that includes didactic and experiential learning and training in use of large Veteran as well as civilian datasets.

The program includes development and implementation of advanced analytics methods, not limited to machine learning methods and Artificial Intelligence. As the commonwealth’s capital, Richmond, Virginia, offers a vibrant mix of history, culture and real-world opportunities. Distinct neighborhoods, cozy restaurants and cafes and quaint local markets give the city an intimate feel, but theaters, galleries, music festivals, sports attractions and a steady stream of annual events bring RVA - as locals call the region - to life.

This T32 program will prepare postdoctoral fellows with the skills and competencies in Big Data Analytics (BDA) methods and techniques to support Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). The datasets that will be available to the new T32 fellows will be among the largest in U.S. health care. The VA Corporate Data Warehouse holds detailed health care records on approximately 25 million veterans spanning the past 25 years, with roughly 4 billion additional data points added each day.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services datasets, housed at VCU through the Center for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering Data Hub, cover more than 65 million Americans enrolled annually in Medicare programs. The training program is co-led by Virginia Commonwealth University and Central Virginia Veterans Affairs Health Care System. The overarching objective of this 5-year T32 training program is to recruit and train a skilled cohort of postdoctoral fellows (MD, DO, PhD, ScD) who will develop competencies and build capacity in real-world evidence translation for service members, Veterans and civilians using population health and data science approaches.

• Health services utilization and outcomes for beneficiaries on Medicare and Medicaid programs
• Assessing health of service members transitioning from DoD to VA care
• Exploring healthcare utilization and outcomes of dually-enrolled (CMS/VA) Veterans
• Harmonizing CMS-VA-DOW datasets to understand the complex needs and outcomes of these populations
• Comparing risk and protective factors for healthcare utilization and outcomes between civilians and military veterans
• Informing civilian population and individual-level interventions, research programs, and policy
• Examining quality of services across military, veteran and civilian healthcare systems

The primary appointment for the fellows will be in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) in…