Advanced Neurotrauma Rehabilitation Research Postdoctoral Fellow

Advanced Neurotrauma Rehabilitation Research Postdoctoral Fellow

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School Of Medicine MBU
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Obtaining academic research faculty positions and research grant awards is increasingly competitive, particularly in the rehabilitation where earmarked grant funding is limited. Post‑doctoral fellows who receive training and develop expertise conducting secondary analyses of registry data, creating real‑world interventions, designing high‑quality clinical trials, and writing federal grant applications are more likely to obtain faculty positions and become independently‑funded researchers. The VCU Advanced Neurotrauma Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) Center is a federally‑funded research training program for health and function in people with disabilities.

The Center for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering (CERSE) in VCU’s Department of PM&R leads VCU ARRT activities, and is uniquely positioned with a 25‑year record of achievement preparing post‑doctoral fellows for successful research careers. CERSE is a VCU‑wide research center that partners with VCUHealth, Virginia’s primary safety‑net health system of care, Sheltering Arms Institute (SAI), a 114‑bed inpatient rehabilitation facility, and the Central Virginia Veterans Affairs Health Care System (CVHCS) that houses one of five V.A. Polytrauma Centers of Excellence and the V.A. system’s largest SCI rehabilitation program.

These clinical partnerships provide ARRT fellows with access to a broad spectrum of clinician collaborators and research participants. CERSE/ARRT faculty have 60 grants/contracts with $111M in total awards, which funds a robust scientific mentoring network and research operations infrastructure to support high‑quality research fellow training. CERSE/ARRT research faculty lead the V.A.‑funded, Long‑term Impact of Military‑relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC, $33M/5 years).

Richmond hosts the only U.S. Academic‑Veterans‑Civilian partnership to be awarded NIDILRR SCI and TBI Model System grants, as well as a V.A. TBI Model System grant. We have extensive, long‑term collaborations with Commonwealth of Virginia Agencies and Community Organizations that provide fellows with access to participatory action research collaborators who have lived experience of disability.

The VCU ARRT is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). The VCU ARRT provides a rich research training experience, including the opportunity to: (1) grow an independent line of research with a publication record of achievement; and (2) develop expertise in intervention development, participatory action research, clinical trial design, and grant writing. The VCU ARRT provides an evidence‑informed, independent development plan (IDP)‑driven, multiple‑mentor training environment for fellows to build the skills and record of achievement needed to obtain a research faculty position.

Two ARRT fellows will train concurrently, and have access to a cohort of postdoctoral research fellows and early‑career faculty across VCU and CVHCS. The VCU ARRT provides a supportive research mentoring environment including people with lived experience of disability, didactic and hands‑on research training, a broad local and national mentorship network, large national research and health claims data registries for secondary data analyses, finance, regulatory and pre‑award grant support, biostatistical training and resources, and leadership and communication skill‑building.

The ARRT postdoctoral fellow will conduct research to develop accessible, usable, and effective clinical interventions that improve outcomes important to people with disabilities. VCU ARRT fellows co‑develop an individualized development plan (IDP) with their mentors—tailored to their skill level, training needs, and goals—that lays the foundation for developing…