Post-Doctoral Program 2013-2014


The Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM), a multidisciplinary research unit sponsored by the University of Michigan Medical School and the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration, has an active program for post-doctoral research fellows.  CBSSM is currently soliciting applications from qualified individuals for two post-doctoral research fellow positions for the 2013-2014 academic year:

Bioethics Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

Active projects in bioethics at CBSSM currently include informed consent and therapeutic misconception, surrogate decision-making, decision-making capacity for treatment and research, deliberative democratic methods in bioethics, resource allocation, and the sociology of medical ethics/bioethics, among others.  Candidates' area of focus must be in bioethics, although their backgrounds may be in social or natural sciences, humanities, medicine, or law.

Decision Sciences Post-Doctoral Research Fellow

This fellowship focuses on understanding and improving the health care communication and decisions made by both patients and providers.  Past post-doctoral fellows have included scholars whose research in health care communication and decision-making has been approached using theories drawn from social cognition, motivation and emotion, risk communication, ethics, and economics.

CBSSM has five broad programs that serve its research mission and fellows will usually focus on one of these areas.  Please see www.cbssm.org/research to learn more.

  • Program in Clinical and Research Ethics
  • Program in Health Communication and Decision-Making
  • Program in Medicine and Society
  • Program in Health, Justice, and Community
  • Program in Genomics, Health, and Society

 Post-doctoral fellows are expected to collaborate on established projects and are encouraged to conduct independent   research with an emphasis on study inception, manuscript writing, and applying for grants. CBSSM's resources and  collaborative support enable the fellows to build their own research programs. 

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience and education. All requirements of the PhD or equivalent terminal degree must be completed before the post-doctoral research fellow appointment can begin. Candidates should submit a letter of research interests, reprints/preprints, CV, and three letters of recommendation by February 4, 2013. Application materials should be sent in electronic format to:


Valerie Kahn, MPH, Manager

Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine

University of Michigan

2800 Plymouth Road, Building 16, Rm. 455S

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800

valkahn@umich.edu