Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Position Description

The Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory within Department of Orthopaedics at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is seeking candidates for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position with immediate need. Ambitious, self-motivated, hard-working, bright graduates interested in a full-time position near the main Ohio State University campus in Columbus, OH, are welcome to apply. This opportunity is supervised by Vice Chair of Research Dr. Nathaniel Bates, PhD. The successful applicant will have the unique opportunity to engage in clinical and laboratory-based research across multiple divisions within the Department of Orthopaedics. Through this diversity of projects, the successful applicant will be extended ample opportunities for publication in peer-reviewed medical journals. Primary roles for this position will include:

• DATA CURATION (estimated 50% FTE)
  • Data Collection The candidate will lead laboratory data collections of both live patient and cadaveric studies. This includes setup, tear down, specimen handling, and dissection. The candidate will be expected to learn and operate multiple technical systems including 3D motion analysis, Electromyography, embedded force platforms, mechanical simulators, and any new technology introduced to the laboratory for scientific testing purposes.
  • Data Management The candidate will be expected to manage the curation, organization, clean up, refinement and processing of laboratory data. This process begins at collection and is ongoing until data termination. The Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory maintains an array of ongoing projects at any given time; therefore, management of data for these projects is essential. Candidate efforts will be targeted towards preparing data for statistical analysis and preserving integrity of created datasets.
  • Data Analysis Under the guidance of Dr. Bates, the candidate will be expected to learn and participate in the statistical analysis of collected data to prepare results for publication. Along with analysis, the successful candidate will be expected to actively contribute to the interpretation of data analysis to assign meaningful clinical and scientific relevance to results. The candidate will implement university-provided and public domain software to accomplish this goal.
• DATA DISSEMINATION (estimated 20% FTE)
  • The candidate will aid in the creation of abstracts, manuscripts, reports, figures, and tables related to laboratory projects and data.
• MULTIDICIPLINARY COLLABORATION (estimated 20% FTE)
  • The candidate will be expected to work cohesively in a team environment with collaborators across multiple disciplines, including but not limited to neuroscience, engineering, health sciences, medicine, and more. Collaborations will be overseen by Dr. Bates for the benefit of the Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory.
  • As part of these collaborative efforts, the candidate will be expected to craft and pursue extramural funding opportunities at the national, foundational, and industry levels.
• STUDY COORDINATION (estimated 10% FTE)
  • The candidate will assist in the development and submission of protocols to the Ohio State University IRB, the contacting and recruitment of potential research subjects, the ethical consent of study participants, the longitudinal follow-up of study subjects, and the maintenance and upkeep of study records as defined by the IRB and research regulatory standards.

This position is tied to funding and is a 2-year opportunity with potential for extension based on resource availability. Candidates interested in applying should hold a PhD in engineering, health sciences, kinesiology, or related field. Candidate must exhibit tangible interest in research activities, maintain a strong academic record, demonstrate independent work ethic, and high level of self-motivation. Applicant should have strong organizational skills as they will be expected to manage multiple projects simultaneously. Functional knowledge of programming in languages such as Matlab and Python is important to completion of the responsibilities listed above. Experience with statistics and ability to implement statistical software is preferred. Experience with Motion Analysis is preferred.