T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Nursing, AI, and Health Data Science

The SpeechCARE Lab at Columbia University School of Nursing is seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Research
Fellow to contribute to NIH-funded research focused on artificial intelligence, large language models (LLMs), speech
processing, natural language processing, and early detection of cognitive impairment in real-world healthcare
settings.
This position is designed for candidates with:
• A strong nursing foundation, training or experience in data science and clinical informatics, and interest in
cognitive aging and patient-clinician communication.
• A PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in nursing, medical/clinical informatics, biomedical informatics, information
science, data science, computer science, public health, or a related field.
• For applicants whose PhD training is outside nursing, formal nursing education at the bachelor’s or master’s level
is required for the School of Nursing T32 program.
• Applicants must meet NIH T32 eligibility requirements, including being a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent
resident at the time of appointment.
Research Environment and Opportunity
The SpeechCARE Lab is a funded, award-recognized research group developing AI-based methods from real-world
patient-clinician communication, speech, language, clinical notes, and EHR data to support earlier detection of mild
cognitive impairment and early dementia. The lab’s work has been supported by NIH/NIA funding and recognized
through the NIA PREPARE Challenge. The fellow will contribute to active studies with clear scholarly outputs,
including peer-reviewed manuscripts, conference presentations, and future grant applications. The position also
provides close mentorship and opportunities to build an independent research program at the intersection of nursing,
clinical informatics, large language models, speech AI, cognitive aging, and health equity.
Required Qualifications
• PhD or equivalent doctoral degree in nursing, medical/clinical informatics, biomedical informatics, information
science, data science, public health, computer science, or a related field. For applicants whose PhD training is
outside nursing, formal nursing education at the bachelor’s or master’s level is required for the School of Nursing
T32 program.
• Experience with Python programming and training in data science, statistics, machine learning, informatics, or
related areas.
• Familiarity with large language models (LLMs) and their applications in healthcare.
• Demonstrated interest in AI in healthcare, clinical informatics, cognitive aging, and real-world AI implementation.
• At least two first-author publications, preferably focused on applying or developing AI methods to address
healthcare problems.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work independently and collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research
environment.
Preferred Qualifications
• Experience with clinical data, EHR data, patient-clinician communication, speech data, or transcripts.
• Experience with LLMs, transformer-based models, qualitative research, mixed methods, clinical workflow
analysis, or implementation science.
Key Responsibilities
• Contribute to NIH/NIA-funded studies on AI-based detection of cognitive impairment using speech, language,
patient-clinician communication, and clinical data.
• Support the development, evaluation, and interpretation of machine learning, speech-processing, and large
language model approaches.
SpeechCARE Lab | T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow Job Description
• Apply nursing and clinical knowledge to interpret patient communication, clinical workflows, and healthcare
documentation.
• Support qualitative research activities, including interview guide development, interviews, summaries, coding,
and thematic analysis.
• Contribute to IRB documents, manuscripts, conference presentations, progress reports, and grant-related
materials.
Participate in lab meetings, training activities, and interdisciplinary collaborations, and support students or
research assistants involved in lab research activities.
Work Environment
This is an in-person position based at Columbia University School of Nursing. Appointment duration and renewal will
follow T32 program and institutional requirements. The fellow will participate in SpeechCARE Lab activities and
interdisciplinary collaborations across Columbia University School of Nursing, the Columbia Aging Center, and VNS
Health home healthcare settings.
Application Materials
Interested candidates should submit a CV, a brief cover letter describing their research interests and relevant
experience, two writing samples or publications, and the names and contact information of two references.