Post Doctoral Fellow, Occupational Health Data and Health System Research - FTT; J0826-0729

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Occupational Health Data and Health System Research

North York General Hospital is seeking a Post-Doctoral Fellow to work under the supervision of Dr. Karen Tu, Occupational Health Data Lead
, on a program of occupational health, health services, and health system research focused on improving outcomes for workers recovering from workplace injuries and illnesses.

The successful candidate will take a leadership role in developing and implementing a series of research projects aimed at improving the effectiveness, quality, equity, and integration of healthcare services across occupational health and broader health system settings. Research activities will involve literature reviews, advanced quantitative analyses, database development, and collaboration with clinicians, healthcare organizations, policy-makers, and researchers.

A major focus of this fellowship is the development of a novel occupational health data platform to support research on workplace injury, rehabilitation, and return-to-work outcomes. The successful candidate will lead the creation and validation of a longitudinal research database based on electronic medical record (EMR) data. This initiative will involve extracting, harmonizing, and linking occupational health data with radiology and diagnostic imaging reports, emergency department records, hospital admissions, physician services, and primary care EMR data to create a rich research resource for evaluating care pathways, healthcare utilization, disability trajectories, mental health outcomes, and recovery following occupational injury.

The database will serve as a foundation for future research, predictive modeling, quality improvement initiatives, and policy-relevant studies aimed at improving care and outcomes for injured workers.

In addition to leading database development, the fellow will contribute to a growing occupational health research program focused on workers recovering from workplace injuries and illnesses. Research projects will use the database to evaluate care pathways, timeliness of care, return-to-work outcomes, loss-of-earnings trajectories, mental health service utilization, and predictors of recovery following occupational injury. Projects will involve advanced epidemiologic, health services, and predictive modeling approaches, including machine learning and longitudinal analyses.

• Mapping care pathways across occupational injury types and evaluating patterns of healthcare utilization.
• Evaluating delays in care and adherence to WSIB service-level agreements and performance targets.
• Identifying predictors of successful and delayed return-to-work outcomes.
• Developing prediction models for loss-of-earnings and prolonged disability following workplace injury.
• Examining mental health service use and mental health recovery trajectories following occupational injury.
• Evaluating integrated occupational rehabilitation and return-to-work programs.
• Using linked EMR and administrative health data to understand health system utilization before and after workplace injury.

The successful candidate will have advanced training in epidemiology, health services research, population health, biostatistics, data science, occupational health, or a related discipline, and will contribute to peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, grant applications, and knowledge translation activities.

You will report to the Occupational Health Data Lead, Dr. Karen Tu.

The position is available immediately and is full-time on a 12-month fixed-term basis, with the possibility of renewal based on mutual agreement.