Position Summary
The Cordell Institute for Policy in Medicine & Law at WashU seeks a full-time Microsoft Cloud Civil Liberties and Health Policy Research Fellow for a one-year term.
This position operates in a hybrid work environment and is expected to be based in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
The Cordell Institute’s mission is to devise solutions to the novel ethical, legal, and policy questions accompanying scientific and technological advancements in healthcare. The Institute advances interdisciplinary scholarship and practical solutions at the intersection of law, medicine, public health, technology, and governance, with a particular focus on strengthening accountability, innovation, and public trust.
The Microsoft Cloud Civil Liberties and Health Policy Research Fellow will contribute to research and thought leadership examining the legal, ethical, and governance challenges arising from emerging technologies, data systems, and evolving health policies. Particular attention will be given to issues involving privacy, civil liberties, civil rights, equity, accountability, public trust, and democratic governance in healthcare, public health, and related systems.
Under the supervision of the Institute’s executive director and faculty co-directors, and potentially in coordination with other faculty, departments, and external partners, the Fellow will conduct interdisciplinary legal and policy research that contributes to scholarly publications, policy analyses, white papers, and other public-facing products. Research may address topics such as health law and policy, public health law, health governance, artificial intelligence and data governance, civil liberties, legal epidemiology, policy surveillance, and privacy law.
The Fellow will work closely with Institute leadership to define the scope and objectives of specific projects and identify meaningful deliverables aligned with the Institute’s strategic priorities.
Job Description
Primary Duties & Responsibilities:
Information on being a postdoc at WashU in St. Louis can be found at https://postdoc.wustl.edu/prospective-postdocs-2/.
The Fellow will train under the supervision of Institute leadership and faculty mentors, including but not limited to:
- Designing and managing one or more research projects aligned with the Institute’s strategic priorities.
- Conducting interdisciplinary legal and policy research addressing questions at the intersection of health, law, technology, governance, and civil liberties.
- Contributing to a policy surveillance or legal epidemiology.
- Conducting research examining how legal and governance frameworks can promote innovation while protecting privacy, civil liberties, accountability, equity, and public trust.
- Preparing and submitting scholarly articles, policy briefs, white papers, reports, legal analyses, website content, blogs, and op-eds in a timely manner.
- Presenting research findings and policy analyses to academic, legal, governmental, healthcare, public health, and community audiences.
- Assisting in developing and delivering training, workshops, conferences, and presentations hosted by the Cordell Institute and its partners.
- Supporting interdisciplinary collaborations with faculty, students, clinicians, policymakers, researchers, and external partners.
- Assisting in the planning and execution of Cordell Institute programs and events.
- Contributing to grant-funded initiatives, partnership development, and dissemination of Institute research and thought leadership.
- Maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, professionalism, and ethical conduct.
- Participating in staff meetings and other Cordell Institute initiatives as assigned.
Salary Range:
Base pay is commensurate with experience.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.
Required Qualifications
Education:
Ph.D., M.D. Or Equivalent Terminal Or Doctoral Degree.
Certifications/Professional Licenses:
No specific certification/professional license is required for this position.
Work Experience:
No specific work experience is required for this position.
Skills:
Not Applicable
Driver's License:
A driver's license is not required for this position.
More About This Job
Required Qualifications:
- J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school or completion of all requirements for a J.D. by the fellowship start date.
- Demonstrated interest in health law, health policy, public health law, administrative law, civil liberties, technology law, or related fields.
- Outstanding demonstrated research, writing, and analytical skills.
- Outstanding demonstrated oral communication skills and demonstrated ability to present complex ideas to diverse audiences.
- Strong organizational, project management, and time-management skills.
- Self-discipline and ability to work independently with minimal day-to-day supervision.
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain productive working relationships with students, colleagues, community partners, and external stakeholders.
- Ability to synthesize legal, policy, scientific, and technical information into clear and actionable insights.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Additional advanced degree (e.g., Ph.D., Dr.P.H., M.P.H., M.P.P., M.S., M.A., or equivalent) in public health, public policy, systems science, political science, sociology, economics, data science, international studies, or a related field.
- Experience supporting federally funded, foundation-funded, or other externally funded research, policy, evaluation, or implementation projects.
- Experience conducting qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, policy, legal, or interdisciplinary research.
- Familiarity with statistical, qualitative, or analytic software (e.g., R, Stata, SAS, Python, NVivo, or similar platforms).
- Demonstrated record of scholarly writing, policy analysis, publication, or other research dissemination activities.
- Experience working across government, nonprofit, academic, advocacy, healthcare, or private-sector policy environments.
- Demonstrated interest, expertise, or scholarly work in one or more of the following areas:
o Health law and health policy
o Public health law
o Vaccination law and immunization policy
o Civil liberties, civil rights, privacy, or data governance
o Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies
o Health equity and structural determinants of health
o Comparative or international health law and policy
o Health systems, governance, and systems science
Preferred Qualifications
Education:
No additional education unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.
Certifications/Professional Licenses:
No additional certification/professional licenses unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.
Work Experience:
No additional work experience unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.
Skills:
Not Applicable
Questions
For frequently asked questions about the application process, please refer to our External Applicant FAQ.
Accommodation
If you are unable to use our online application system and would like an accommodation, please email CandidateQuestions@wustl.edu or call the dedicated accommodation inquiry number at 314-935-1149 and leave a voicemail with the nature of your request.
All qualified individuals must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.
Pre-Employment Screening
All external candidates receiving an offer for employment will be required to submit to pre-employment screening for this position. The screenings will include criminal background check and, as applicable for the position, other background checks, drug screen, an employment and education or licensure/certification verification, physical examination, certain vaccinations and/or governmental registry checks. All offers are contingent upon successful completion of required screening.
Benefits Statement
Washington University in St. Louis is committed to providing a comprehensive and competitive benefits package to our employees. Benefits eligibility is subject to employment status, full-time equivalent (FTE) workload, and weekly standard hours. Please visit our website at https://hr.wustl.edu/benefits/ to view a summary of benefits.
EEO Statement
Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, citizenship (where prohibited by federal law), age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.
