Postdoctoral Addiction Fellowship in Recovery Research
Application Deadline: November 15th, 2022
Interviews will take place in early December 2022.

The Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School is recruiting a postdoctoral fellow for a NIDA-funded R24 two-year fellowship to commence in the summer of 2023. The goal of the R24 is to advance the science on recovery support services, including community centers (RCCs). The services provide access and linkages to resources to help individuals initiate and sustain substance use disorder remission as well as improve physical and emotional well-being (e.g., through housing, jobs, recovery coaching). The R24 focuses, in particular, on the intersection between these community-based services and clinical services including opioid agonist and antagonist medications (e.g., buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone) for individuals with current or remitted opioid use disorder. To this end, our team, consisting of scientists, clinicians, recovery support services leadership, and persons with lived experience from multiple organizations and institutions from across the US, are coordinating several activities to advance the science on recovery (https://www.recoveryanswers.org/addiction-research-summaries/building-research-infrastructure/). We are recruiting a postdoctoral fellow to be involved in all of these research activities while advancing their own line of research through manuscript preparation, professional network building, and grant writing.

The ideal candidate has a demonstrated interest in recovery research (including, but not limited to, recovery community centers). Applicants new to this area of research who wish to gain expertise in recovery research through this fellowship will also be considered. This is a mentored position, in which the aspiring independent researcher will have access to formal training opportunities within the MGH / Harvard Medical School system (e.g., formal training seminars in statistics, qualitative research methods, grant writing), and access to relevant datasets for secondary data analyses including a longitudinal study of recovery community center participants, several longitudinal datasets assessing recovery processes and substance use among clinical and community samples, and a nationally representative survey of US adults who resolved a significant alcohol or other drug problem. Primary mentors for this position are Dr. John Kelly (emphasis on stigma/discrimination, treatment and recovery support services, mechanisms of behavior change, addiction theories, measurement-based practice) and Dr. Bettina Hoeppner (emphasis on mHealth technologies, positive psychology, mechanisms of behavior change). The postdoctoral fellow will also be encouraged to build professional relationships with other faculty members within the Recovery Research Institute (https://www.recoveryanswers.org/about-the-recovery-research-institute/), the Center for Addiction Medicine (http://www.mghaddictionmedicine.com/about-center-for-addiction-medicine/staff/), the Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Department, and other academic research groups within the Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School system that may be relevant to the applicant’s line of research.

Competitive applicants will have excellent writing skills, robust quantitative skills, and a track record of research that demonstrates aptitude for recovery research. Competitive candidates will also be able to demonstrate interest in science that bridges clinical and community-based services. Previous grant writing is not required but considered a strength. Salaries and benefits will be commensurate with NIH’s NRSA stipend levels. Applicants should have a Ph.D., M.D., or equivalent doctoral degree in behavioral or social sciences (e.g., psychology, social work, public health).

Interested candidates should send a CV and cover letter stating their research interests and career goals to Ms. Catherine Weerts (cweerts@mgh.harvard.edu). Individuals from all backgrounds, especially those from historically underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.