Postdoctoral Fellow

Competition 2641

This position is part of the Post Doctoral Fellows Association and has an initial appointment of 1 year with the possibility of extension.

This position has an annual salary of $60,000 to $70,000, depending on experience, and offers a comprehensive benefits package.

Location - This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in-person work at North Campus, Edmonton.

Working at the University of Alberta

The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all First Peoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community.

The University of Alberta is a community of knowledge seekers, change makers and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to over 14,000 faculty and staff, more than 40,000 students and a growing community of 300,000 alumni worldwide.

Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross-section of people — from our students and community members, to our renowned researchers and innovators, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger and more just. Learn more.

Working for the Department of Physical Therapy

The Department of Physical Therapy in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta is accepting applications for a postdoctoral position in learning health systems, supervised by Dr. Erin McCabe.

Dr. Erin McCabe is an Assistant Professor who is committed to partnering with community organizations to improve health outcomes. She uses a health systems and policy research lens with the aim of improving access to evidence-based rehabilitation interventions and the amplification of the patient-voice into the health system. She uses has a strong interest in learning health systems, implementation science, patient engagement, and the co-design approaches in research. 

Position Summary

Project

Learning health systems (LHS) are an approach to organizing a health system for continuous improvement and innovation. LHS leverage heterogeneous data from routine clinical practice, analyze it to understand variability in recovery patterns, then rapidly translate that knowledge into clinical practice. A critical component of a LHS is the standardized measurement of patient outcomes across patient care pathways, however, the integration of a standardized approach to capturing patient outcomes across the care continuum is currently limited.

The purpose of this project is to bring together people with lived experience, clinicians, and administrators, clinical data & analytics, as well as health researchers, to codesign, implement and evaluate a patient-centred, clinically feasible, outcome measurement framework for use in rehabilitation for people who have experienced a stroke, spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury.

Position

I am seeking a postdoctoral fellow to join my growing team to be integral to the co-design phase of this project. They will lead a provincial scale co-design project with key interested parties, including people with lived experience (patients and family members), clinicians, administrators, clinical data & analytics, and national experts, with the goal of coming to consensus on a set of patient-centred outcome measures that will be implemented across Alberta. The fellow will also have the opportunity to be involved in community engaged outcome measure implementation projects in child and adolescent mental health.

Funding is available to support this one-year position with the opportunity to extend by 1-2 years. Dr. McCabe may consider making this a PhD opportunity for a highly qualified potential student.

Duties 

• Plans and executes a co-design consensus process, in collaboration with the PIs and patient research partners
• Conducts interviews and focus groups
• Coordinates patient advisory council under mentorship of AbSPORU patient engagement team
• Develops relationships with key interested parties related to the project
• Support co-design and implementation projects related to child and adolescent mental health
• Mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students, research assistants
• Publish findings and present at conferences and health system events

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD graduate from any health or sociology-related discipline
• Expertise in one of the following areas is required: outcome measurement (e.g. psychometrics/clinimetrics), patient engagement in research, implementation science or neurorehabilitation research
• Training or experience with clinical or patient-reported outcome measures is required
• Experience or training in both qualitative and quantitative research is required.
• Training or an interest in implementation science is required.
• Excellent relationship building and management skills and experience in community engagement
• Excellent communication (oral, written) and interpersonal skills.
• An excellent academic record, and a beginning record of publication.
• Adaptable and resilient, growth-mindset, flexibility to accommodate working demands.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of Alberta’s healthcare system is an asset
• Clinical experience in rehabilitation (e.g. OT, speech, PT) an asset

Application Instructions

Interested applicants should submit an application consisting of a one page cover letter, your curriculum vitae, and a sample of your writing.
This position will be advertised until a suitable candidate is identified, however, review of applications will commence on August 18, 2025.