Summary

The lab of Dr. Teresia O’Connor at Baylor College of Medicine is looking for an outstanding and highly motivated Postdoctoral Associate to investigate the role of Hispanic fathers in health promotion for their children or in using new technologies to assess the influence of screen media use among preschoolers on their sleep and weight status over time. Overall the O’Connor lab is interested in a) Identifying strategies to best prevent and treat childhood obesity; b) Providing better understanding of how parents (fathers and mothers) influence their children’s obesity-related behaviors through the framework of parenting styles and parenting practices; c) Assessing how to use technology to improve the measurement of children’s obesity-related behaviors. Candidates will have the opportunity to engage in NIH-funded on-going clinical trials and/or observational cohort studies, and develop their own project within the ongoing research in a fast-paced behavioral research environment. This position requires letters of support from at least two colleagues/supervisors.

The O’Connor lab is located in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, in the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC). BCM is recognized as a premiere academic health science center and is ranked as one of the tops among the nation's graduate schools for biomedical sciences.

Job Duties

• Obtains training and certification in human subjects research.
• Coordinates, supervises, and assists in data collection of children and their families for the research study, including in the CNRC Metabolic Research Unit, in community settings, and in family’s homes.
• Ensures appropriate set up and processing of device based measurement systems (accelerometers, apps for measuring mobile device use and/or FLASH-TV).
• Participates in the CNRC post-doc program activities: presentation and preparation of data into figures, written project updates, oral presentations (including lab meetings, CNRC post doc seminars, and presentations at local, national, and international meetings); and preparation of manuscripts based on their work.
• Assists PI in training and mentoring research staff and undergraduate and graduate students as appropriate.
• Establishes new research protocols and procedures.

Minimum Qualifications

• MD or Ph.D. in Basic Science, Health Science, or a related field.
• No experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Enthusiastic and competent; able to work well with colleagues. 
• Clear, critical thinking, strong conceptual and analytical background, and excellent writing skills.
• Ability to lead projects and to work cooperatively with others.
• Experience with at least one of these areas is preferred: measurement of sedentary behavior/physical activity, analysis of accelerometer data, measurement of parent-child interactions, measurement of screen media use, epidemiology and recruitment of children and families for research studies.