Research Scientist

Nell and Dan founded Folia Health because it has been simply too hard for their family members to receive personalized, data-driven healthcare that directly addresses the issues they're dealing with. People across the country and now around the world, including our own team members and families, use Folia to track what they're experiencing—fatigue, symptom flares, pain—alongside what they're currently doing for treatment, and then use this information to understand the best way forward.

Most Folia users also receive Data Dividends to share their data as part of our Research Programs, the business model that keeps Folia humming along.

Along the journey of building Folia, we’ve developed and validated a new type of health data—home-reported outcomes (or HROs). HROs allow people dealing with complex conditions to digitize their vast personal health knowledge, with simple responses to a personalized set of multiple-choice questions whenever they experience a change in their health. HROs are now a valued part of the research methods that leading life sciences companies use to understand how their therapies are impacting people in the real world.

Folia (‘foglia’ is leaf in Italian) was named for the power of the individual contributions of people who track their own health experiences. Each contributor is a leaf on the tree, performing important tasks to enable the whole healthcare tree to grow and become stronger—ultimately benefiting the leaf itself.

• Female-founded and led by parents and family caregivers
• Stubbornly focused on making healthcare make sense
• 10 years in business
• Backed by top venture funds with a strong financial runway
• Made possible by our fast-growing user community with thousands of users in rare conditions

Measure what matters.

We are seeking a Research Scientist to own the scientific integrity of Folia’s research programs end to end. This role is responsible for enabling the Folia research methodology across the design of our sponsored research studies. You will lead study design, author protocols, and translate the scientific insights our programs produce.

At this time we are only considering candidates who are local to Boston, MA so they can commute into our downtown office weekly. Folia follows a hybrid in‑person/remote schedule, with the team working in‑office on Tuesday/Thursday and working from home on Monday/Wednesday/Friday.

• Own program science end to end: apply therapeutic‑area depth to translate research questions into sound, feasible study designs that generate rigorous, decision‑useful insights on real‑world therapeutic impact and condition experience.
• Build relationships with clinicians and life science researchers to inform study design and ground it in the lived patient experience.
• Support the scientific interpretation of longitudinal data, framing what the data means and translating it into insights for scientific and sponsor audiences; contribute to publication planning.
• Partner with Data Science to advance Folia’s Home Reported Outcomes methodology across the design and execution of research programs, ensuring data collection faithfully captures the patient experience and supports sound scientific interpretation.

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in a relevant field (MPH, MS, PhD) preferred.
• 3+ years of experience in research design or scientific roles within clinical, health outcomes, or life‑sciences research.
• Demonstrated ability to author study protocols, interview guides, data specifications, or equivalent scientific documentation.
• Experience engaging clinicians, researchers, or KOLs with scientific credibility, and previous publication experience preferred.
• First‑principles thinking and a knack for insights generation.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills.

• Own the scientific insights that make Folia’s research credible, with cross‑organizational visibility into how programs are designed and interpreted.
• Collaborative, mission‑driven team environment.
• Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits package.
• Opportunity to lead impactful research efforts with cross‑organizational visibility.

The salary range for this position is $98,000–$125,000 and will be determined to be commensurate with experience. The full compensation package includes stock option grants and additional benefits, including Health, Dental, Vision, and 401(k) plan.

We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, we are not able to sponsor visas at this time.