Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment - Durham

Program ID:

Duke-NSOE-Durham-POSTDOC_MEYER [#28186]

Program Title:

Postdoctoral Associate - Integrated Toxicology & Environmental Health Program

Program Type:

Postdoctoral

Location:

Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States of America

Subject Areas:

Chemistry
Biomedical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Biology
Environmental Science (more...)

Appl Deadline:

(posted 2024/08/26, listed until 2025/02/26)

Description:

The Duke University Program in Environmental Health, part of the Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program (ITEHP), is pleased to announce two T32-supported postdoctoral positions, available immediately. The positions will remain open until filled.

These are unique positions explicitly designed to encourage and support interdisciplinary and independent research and training that will launch the postdoctoral fellows’ careers. We seek applicants with excellent research backgrounds, strong publication records, strong letters of recommendation, and clear, independent research visions articulated in a three-page Research Proposal. We expect appointments to typically last a minimum of two years with good progress; this period may be extended. We will consider all outstanding applicants from diverse disciplines (Biology, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Science, Public Health, etc.), including those whose dissertation research was not explicitly Environmental Health-oriented, but who wish to move to an Environmental Health focus.

Project Development. Prior to writing an application, applicants should contact at least two ITEHP faculty members with whom they propose to work to discuss a possible research project and how the project will synergize with and extend the research being conducted by the individual PIs. Feedback from potential mentors is welcome and should be incorporated, but the principal intellectual development and writing must be the applicant’s.

Research Proposal. The successful postdoctoral candidates will propose a project that is interdisciplinary and innovative, creatively combining the candidate’s own background with the expertise of two ITEHP PIs from different disciplines in ways that build on at least one of the two PIs’ existing grant support. The proposal should merge and extend existing research of the two PIs into a single research project that complements each of the PIs. It should result in a novel, independent research project that the postdoc will be able to develop for other independent grants and, if they wish, take with them upon obtaining a permanent job after postdoctoral training. The research proposal should be no more than three pages (11-point font, half-inch margins, single spacing; not including references), and should include a paragraph clearly delineating the ways in which the proposed project is synergistic with both PIs’ existing projects and will be supported by the PIs’ expertise, as well as the ways in which the proposal represents an independent, non-overlapping project.

Letters of Support from Sponsoring PIs. The applicant must include Letters of Support from the sponsoring PIs with their application. The PIs’ Letters of Support must contain explicit statements that the project proposed will be available for the postdoc to take with them when they move on, and indicate the degree to which the proposal development and writing was done by the applicant.

Support: Salary support and benefits follow the NIH scale. Research support will be split between PI’s grants and independent funds in the amount of $10,000/year for each postdoc. This additional, independent research funding will enable independent and creative research directions that would not be supported by the PI’s grant support.

The Research Environment at Duke: Postdoctoral candidates will join a strong interdisciplinary group of researchers at Duke. The ITEHP evolved from the Integrated Toxicology Program that was founded in 1978 in the Medical Center. Today, ITEHP has evolved into a highly interdisciplinary program encompassing three Schools (Medicine, Environment, and Engineering), and multiple Departments and Programs.

Core research strengths of the ITEHP are basic, translational and clinical medical research; pharmacology and toxicology; molecular biology; exposure science; epidemiology and public health; statistics and computational biology; environmental science; and environmental engineering. Multiple interdisciplinary environmental health-relevant Centers exist on campus, including the Superfund Research Center, the NSF Engineering Research Center for Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) focused on studying the built microbiome, microbial dark matter, and engineering the built environment to promote better health outcomes; the NIEHS-funded Duke lab hub for the Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource) program, the Newborn Epigenetics STudy (NEST) longitudinal birth cohort, the Children’s Health and Discovery Initiative (CHDI) of the Duke School of Medicine, an initiative on Environmental Exposures and Kidney Health, the HOPE 1000 (Health Outcomes related to Pregnancy and early-life Exposures) longitudinal observational study of 1000 pregnant women and their infants based at the Duke Medical Center, the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory that sponsors research on the sources, fate, transport, and human exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in North Carolina, the International Network For Researching, Advancing, and Assessing Materials for Environmental Sustainability (INFRAMES), and more.

Our location in the Research Triangle area fosters direct interaction between UPEH faculty and trainees with investigators at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Research Triangle Institute (RTI). The atmosphere and resources for training in this field are further enhanced by related programs at three neighboring universities: North Carolina Central University (NCCU), North Carolina State University (NCSU), and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC-CH).

Per the terms of the grant, applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents enrolled in a research or clinical doctoral or postdoctoral program.

Duke University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas-an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Application Materials Required:

Submit the following items online at this website to complete your application:

Curriculum Vitae
Two letters of support from the ITEHP sponsoring PIs
Three letters of support from people familiar with your researchs
One page letter of interest describing your background and career goals
include Letters of Support from the sponsoring PIs

And anything else requested in the description.

Further Info:

https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/envhealth/about