Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Anthropology

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** Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see .
** This is a term position; length of the term will be discussed during the interview process. Continuation past the term length discussed will be based on university need, performance, and/or availability of funding.
** POSITION SPECIFICS
** The Department of Anthropology at The Pennsylvania State University invites applications for a
** Postdoctoral Scholar
** to investigate the relationship between oral health, race/ethnicity, and the human oral microbiome using the CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). This NIH-funded position will focus on understanding how oral microbial communities mediate differences in oral and systemic health using an evolutionary health framework. There will be a specific emphasis on applying advanced bioinformatics and statistical approaches to large, population-level datasets in this research.

The successful candidate will join the micro

ARCH team led by Dr. Laura Weyrich. Micro

ARCH is situated within the Department of Anthropology and the One Health Microbiome Center and collaborates with an international, interdisciplinary team across anthropology, microbiology, and dental health.
** Responsibilities:
** Analyze oral microbiome data from NHANES and related datasets to identify patterns linked to oral health outcomes and health disparities.

Apply and develop bioinformatic pipelines, statistical models, and computational tools to assess associations between microbial composition, oral health status, race/ethnicity, and broader measures of health.

Contribute to manuscripts, conference presentations, and grant applications in this research area.

Collaborate across a team of faculty, postdocs, and students in anthropology, microbiology, and public health.

Engage with broader discussions on the ethical and social dimensions of oral microbiome research, particularly in the context of health inequalities.
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* Required Qualifications:

** A Ph.D. in Anthropology, Microbiology, Epidemiology, Public Health, Biostatistics, Computational Biology, or a related field at the time of appointment.

Demonstrated expertise in bioinformatics, statistics, microbiome data analysis, and/or computational methods.

Experience working with large population-level datasets (e.g., NHANES data sets or other large-scale equivalent).A strong record of peer-reviewed publications and scientific communication.

Commitment to research that integrates biological, social, and ethical perspectives on oral health.
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* Preferred Qualifications:

** Experience analyzing oral microbiome datasets (16S, shotgun metagenomics, or metatranscriptomics).Advanced programming and data science skills in R, Python, or other relevant languages.

Familiarity with frameworks for studying race, racism, and health disparities.

Experience developing reproducible pipelines and working in high-performance computing environments.

The College of the Liberal Arts is committed to offering professional growth and promotional opportunities for non-tenure-line faculty appointments.  Information on faculty ranks and progression can be found at Interested candidates must submit an online application at , and should upload the following application materials: a cover letter describing research background, experience in bioinformatics/statistics and/or with complex survey data (e.g., with sampling weights), and interest in the position, an up-to-date curriculum vitae, a two-page research statement outlining their broad research interests and how these connect to their long-term career goals, and contact information for three references.  

System limitations allow for a total of 5 documents (5mb per document) as part of your application. Please combine materials to meet the 5-document limit.

For information on the position, please contact Tina Rader it our website at  for more information about Penn State’s Department of Anthropology.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
** BACKGROUND CHECKS/CLEARANCES
** Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.

** BENEFITS
* * Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being. For more detailed information, please visit our  (

Note:

For Postdoctoral benefits, please see our  page.)
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