Postdoctoral Research Associate - Family and Community Medicine

Hiring Department: Department of Family and Community Medicine

Location: Chicago, IL USA

Requisition ID: 1028779

Posting Close Date: January 10, 2025

Salary Range: $61,008 - $74,088

Salary adheres to the FY 2024 NIH Postdoctoral Salary Guidelines and is commensurate with qualifications and experience. Please see https://www.niaid.nih.gov/grants-contracts/salary-cap-stipends for more information.

About the University of Illinois Chicago

UIC is among the nation’s preeminent urban public research universities, a Carnegie RU/VH research institution, and the largest university in Chicago. UIC serves over 34,000 students, comprising one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation and is designated as a Minority Serving Institution (MSI), an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPSI) and a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Through its 16 colleges, UIC produces nationally and internationally recognized multidisciplinary academic programs in concert with civic, corporate and community partners worldwide, including a full complement of health sciences colleges. By emphasizing cutting-edge and transformational research along with a commitment to the success of all students, UIC embodies the dynamic, vibrant and engaged urban university. Recent “Best Colleges” rankings published by U.S. News & World Report, found UIC climbed up in its rankings among top public schools in the nation and among all national universities. UIC has over 300,000 alumni, and is one of the largest employers in the city of Chicago.

Benefits eligible positions include a comprehensive benefits package which offers: Health, Dental, Vision, Life, Disability & AD&D insurance; a defined benefit pension plan; paid leaves such as Vacation, Holiday and Sick; tuition waivers for employees and dependents. Click for a complete list of Employee Benefits.

In addition to a competitive salary and benefits package, we offer the opportunity to work in a supportive, interdisciplinary environment. The postdoc will have the opportunity to work closely with both professors and their teams and will be encouraged to develop their independent research ideas.

Position Summary
The Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM), through the AI.Health4All Center for Health Equity using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) is seeking applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to conduct research in the area of generative AI and Large Language Models to address blood pressure control and remote patient monitoring of different patient populations. The scholar will join the newly formed Chronic Disease Management (CDM) Program which is tasked with piloting new clinical workflows, models and technologies within the general Family Medicine Center at UI Health.

Appointments will be for a 2-year period. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will also be affiliated with the AI.Health4All Center and is expected to participate in monthly seminars with other postdoctoral research associates in the UIC College of Medicine.


Duties & Responsibilities

• For chronic disease management, the post-doctoral scholar will explore different Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT to utilize as a health coach, medical assistant and/or other roles. The scholar will also have at their disposable the 1-Search software which is a search engine for medical resources, journals and related information patented by Dr. Karl Kochendorfer. Using these technologies, the scholar will examine the amount of unmet information needs to help both clinicians and patients to address the wicked challenges of health disparities such as health literacy in CDM. This will culminate in the scholar creating an interactive website that can dynamically display outputs of their built AI model based on various research evidence sources.
• The scholar will be tasked with creating a new AI model (based on LLMs) to analyze Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) data and researching experimental clinical workflows to provide equitable solutions for blood pressure control. We also expect the scholar to create their own research poster(s) and present at relevant conferences with the goal for publication.
• Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• A Ph.D. in Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Data Science or a related field
• Strong programming skills in Python, R, SQL, and/or Java.
• Experience in healthcare AI/ML is highly desire
• Communication and writing skills are required along with success in previous academic research
• Excellent problem-solving skills, independent thought, and the ability to manage multiple projects

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in web programming such as JavaScript, HTML and/or CSS preferred
• Experience using healthcare data from the electronic health record preferred
• Experience with web development frameworks such as Django or Flask
• Experience with Docker

Candidates should submit a CV, a statement of research interests, two representative publications, and contact information for three references to rfeinst@uic.edu. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

The University of Illinois System is an equal opportunity employer, including but not limited to disability and/or veteran status, and complies with all applicable state and federal employment mandates. Please visit Required Employment Notices and Posters to view our non-discrimination statement and find additional information about required background checks, sexual harassment/misconduct disclosures, and employment eligibility review through E-Verify.

The university provides accommodations to applicants and employees. Request an Accommodation