Postdoctoral Fellowship in Implementation Science, UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position with Dr. Gregory Aarons at the University of California San Diego, Department of Psychiatry. The position is in a highly collegial research center focused on implementation and effectiveness research located in central San Diego.

Dr. Aarons’ lab focuses on the implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in community-based settings including the development and testing of implementation frameworks and strategies, and the development of pragmatic measures to assess key implementation constructs.  Dr. Aarons’ lab is also known for examination and improvement of system and organizational level factors affecting implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practice, community-academic partnerships, and the advancement and integration of quantitative and qualitative methods in implementation research.

The postdoctoral fellow will primarily work with Dr. Aarons and colleagues in expanding the Leadership and Organizational Change for Implementation (LOCI) intervention to include partnership with a statewide behavioral health service system and its community mental health centers in order to align system-level leadership policies and directives with organizational implementation improvement strategies. The Leadership and Organizational Change for Implementation – System Level (LOCI-SL) intervention seeks to improve implementation leadership, climate, provider attitudes and behaviors, and to support implementation and sustainment of combined Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MET/CBT) in substance use disorder (SUD) and integrated SUD/mental health treatment settings. here will also be opportunities for working on related projects and with our existing data sets.

Primary activities for the fellow will include:

• Supporting the LOCI intervention and participating in leadership training
• Participating in organizational consultation
• Providing leadership coaching for LOCI leader trainees
• Interacting with leaders from community-based organizations
• Supporting project logistics

Qualifications:

• PhD or equivalent in public health, psychology, social work or related field
• Strong interest in implementation science and the implementation of evidence-based interventions in community settings, system and organizational implementation issues
• Knowledge of statistical software (e.g., SAS, SPSS, Mplus)
• Preferred mixed-methods experience and knowledge of qualitative analysis software (e.g., NVivo)
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and interpersonal and organizational skills
• Previous experience partnering with community stakeholders and community-based organizations

To apply: Please submit a cover letter, CV, at least 2 writing samples, and the names of 3 professional references.  Send materials to Dr. Aarons <gaarons@health.ucsd.edu> and his research coordinator Joella Phillips <jiphillips@health.ucsd.edu>.