Postdoc in Early Childhood Translational and Applied Research - Brazelton Touchpoints Center, Boston Children's

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Early Childhood Translational and Applied Research

Brazelton Touchpoints Center

Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital

Harvard Medical School

Position Description:

The Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC) in the Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, offers a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Early Childhood Translational and Applied Research. The nature of our work aligns with the philosophy of BTC and the goals of the Division of Developmental Medicine. Our overall aim is to increase knowledge and experience related to diversity in the context of relational community research and evaluation. The aim of the Research and Evaluation Unit is to emphasize the latest practice and applied research techniques with demonstrated efficacy, consider community-level scaling, integrate a developmental perspective, and support ethical, collegial, and responsible applied research practice that includes and goes beyond community participatory research.

This position provides the Postdoctoral Fellow access to a wide array of evaluation and research projects that are currently active at BTC. The studies vary in their specific objectives but share the common goal of bridging research and practice in the field of childhood and adolescence with attention to promoting child wellbeing and positive parent-child relationships in the face of various adversities. Most studies focus on determining the effects of interventions on early childhood direct service providers, families, and children. Some investigations examine the role of multiple community-level interventions in the lives of vulnerable families. Others explore the impact of trauma and adversity (e.g., child abuse and neglect, poverty, family conflict) on children’s development, and the role of risk and protective factors in program outcomes. A second key role for the BTC Postdoctoral Fellow is to support the synthesis of applied research in the field.

The BTC Postdoctoral Fellow will work with several teams of researchers to participate in research on interventions with young children and families. Opportunities may include work with early care and education, dual-generation early childhood programs (e.g., Head Start, Early Head Start, Indigenous two–gen programs), child welfare, pediatric health care (including medicine and nursing), home visiting, and other early childhood programs in each community. In addition, postdoctoral research will focus on translating and applying knowledge on parent, family, and community engagement, as well as young children (prenatal to age eight) and families living with adversity. The Postdoctoral Fellow will also receive training in the Touchpoints model and have the option to work with trainers to craft and implement professional development offerings.

BTC has a strong commitment to working with communities and people that have been injured or underserved, including Native American, Hispanic, African-American, and Arab communities. Currently, the Center is collaborating on multiple major projects with tribal nations or their representatives, Latine families, African-American families, and Arab families.

The fellowship will provide opportunities to work with other members of the Research and Evaluation Unit at BTC on funded projects, design and develop surveys and other measures, create systems for data management and analysis, assist in the development of a system for continuous quality improvement, engage in complex analytic assessment, and contribute to reporting for other researchers as well as practitioners.

The BTC Postdoctoral Fellows will extend their expertise to the use of multiple analytic strategies (both quantitative and qualitative) to examine data from existing projects, contribute to the development and design of new research projects, participate in a program of grant writing, develop presentations for scientific conferences, write evaluation reports, and contribute to papers submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Eligibility:

Candidate must hold a PhD/EdD in psychology, child development, or a related degree with some emphasis on early childhood or childhood and adolescence. Spanish language skills are a plus. BTC actively encourages applications from women and members of historically underrepresented groups.

How to Apply:

Interested applicants should complete the Boston Children’s Hospital Postdoctoral Fellowship application (“Application for Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship”) and send the completed application, letter of interest, curriculum vitae, three letters of reference, any first-author publications (or publications in which the candidate took a primary role), and a one-page cover letter describing career goals, research interests, and certified transcript of doctoral work to Dr. Catherine C. Ayoub, Director of Research and Evaluation, Brazelton Touchpoints Center, 1295 Boylston, Suite 320, Boston, MA, 02215 or to the email addresses below.

To find out more, please contact Catherine C. Ayoub, RN, EdD, Catherine.Ayoub@childrens.harvard.edu, and Elisa Vele, PhD, Elisa.Vele@childrens.harvard.edu.

Please note that this is an open fellowship. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Boston Children’s Hospital is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Access Statement

At the Brazelton Touchpoint center, we are dedicated to creating a lasting community in which equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and access thrive. We engage in reflective practices to enhance equitable processes and outcomes, and to reduce bias — including our own. At BTC, we come alongside and learn with the infants, children, families, and communities that we have the honor of working with. While we still have much work to do, we see the path to racial equity and justice as a journey — one that we have wholeheartedly embarked on. BTC is committed to creating equitable and inclusive learning and growth opportunities through collaborative, strengths-based, culturally affirming approaches within our own organization and in our partnerships with all others.