Opportunity: The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research – West (WRAIR-W) located in Tacoma, Washington is offering a postdoctoral research fellowship. The WRAIR-W team is strategically co-located with the Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM). The mission of WRAIR-W is to conduct research and deliver solutions to promote psychological readiness and improve behavioral health outcomes for Service Members. The WRAIR has an opportunity available for a NASEM postdoctoral candidate to gain valuable skills and experiences across all aspects of research, from funding acquisition and proposal planning to dissemination of research products to stakeholders, including the following:

• Research implementation, including protocol development, interacting with the Institutional Review Board, and generating materials.
•  Administration of qualitative and operational data collection tools, including skills in conducting semi structured interviews, focus groups, and synthesizing stakeholder feedback

• Research dissemination, including developing annual reports, brief to command teams, abstracts/posters to conferences, and manuscript for scientific journals.
• Funding acquisition and proposal planning, including identifying funding announcements, developing and submitting grant documentation, and working with key stakeholders across academic, government, and private industry on proposal methodology.

Project: In addition to the skills developed above, the NASEM postdoctoral candidate will assist in supporting the execution of a high-impact, multi-site clinical informatics and machine learning development project. See information for that project below.

Adjustment Disorder (AjD) is the most frequently diagnosed mental health condition among Active-Duty Service Members (ADSM), leading to adverse psychological outcomes and severely degrading force readiness (including increased risk for suicidality and administrative separation). Despite its high prevalence, significant barriers within the Military Health System (MHS)—such as a reactive diagnostic paradigm, high provider burden, and complex differential diagnostics relative to related conditions like PTSD—limit early and accurate identification.

The "Early and Accurate Prediction of Adjustment Disorder (AjD) with Scalable AI/ML" project is a unique, collaborative effort between the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research–West (WRAIR-W) and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). This project leverages large-scale, multi-modal clinical and administrative military databases to train, test, and prospectively validate advanced machine learning models (including penalized regression, random forests, and neural networks). Ultimately, this study aims to develop a scalable risk-stratification decision aide and a validated Knowledge Product (KP)—complete with a practical Concept of Operations (ConOps) and Concept of Employment (ConEmp)—to provide rapid, objective, and equitable early-screening support that reduces provider burden and enhances force readiness across the military health community.

Preferred Experience: WRAIR-W is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to support our involvement in the project. Specifically, our team is looking for a candidate with the following background and skills:

• Experience with research in domain(s) relevant to the program, such as psychology, neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry, behavioral science, informatics, machine learning, and/or qualitative methods.
• Experience in qualitative data collection and analysis, including conducting semi-structured interviews, focus groups, or stakeholder engagement.
• Experience with research organization and compliance, including preparing and processing Institutional Review Board (IRB) materials, assisting with collaborative agreements (such as data use or material transfer agreements), and managing study documentation.
• Proven ability to synthesize research findings for dissemination, including contributing to the preparation of scientific manuscripts, technical reports, presentation materials, and briefs for military or clinical leadership

• Excellent oral, email, and written communication skills.

References

adjustment disorder; stressors; machine learning; mixed methods; decision support

citizenship

Open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and non-U.S. citizens

level

Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants

Additional Benefits

relocation

Awardees who reside more than 50 miles from their host laboratory and remain on tenure for at least six months are eligible for paid relocation to within the vicinity of their host laboratory.

health insurance

A group health insurance program is available to awardees and their qualifying dependents in the United States.