Health and Medical Geography

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Healthy Regions & Policies Lab (Dept of Geography & Geographic Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) to work on a new project to advance health equity with improved social determinant of health (SDOH) data discovery and community practice tools for health researchers, policymakers, and community organizations. 

The Project
The PLACE PROJECT, funded in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by Principal Investigator Marynia Kolak PhD, will work to demystify application design thinking crucial to developing web applications centered on neighborhood health. Our main goal will be to develop, fortify, and advance an open ecosystem for communities that makes developing web applications with SDOH data for health equity more accessible, enjoyable, and empowering. At the core of SDOH data is a deep connection to neighborhoods, people, & place, thus a focus on geographic thinking and utilization of geospatial data is essential. 

The project team will develop a flexible community toolkit to introduce and support the complex process of planning a web application with geospatial data about community health. Community members will learn how to define and better understand the potential uses of their application ideas, specify needs, design solutions, and then evaluate. Open-source software will be presented as effective options to application development for building prototypes or final versions, empowering community members to build capacity locally and remain cost-effective. We’ll also build out a new map-based search platform for SDOH data discovery that will curate and integrate validated geospatial data relevant to public health at multiple scales. We’re excited to link cutting edge work on map-based search via GeoBlacklight, and partner with a national network of librarians, user experience researchers & designers, search & metadata experts, and computer scientists. 

Job Description
The Postdoctoral Scholar will engage in innovative research on communication of human-centered design principles in public health web applications that use social determinants of health data, co-lead content generation for the community toolkit, assist with toolkit evaluation design, and support the data discovery platform generation. They may additionally choose to specialize in a specific component of the project, according to their background or interest, for example:

• Study of human-computer interaction, UI/UX tenets with an emphasis on cartography and geovisualization with an application to public health.
• Extending and/or optimizing FOSS4G (free and open-source software for geospatial) projects to be more user-friendly, accessible, and adopted within a public health audience.
• Spatial data infrastructure development with attention to health equity, equitable governance, and community engagement using innovative technology stacks & stakeholder partnerships. 
• Addressing structural racism and other inequities within public health measurements and SDOH geospatial datasets, using a trauma-informed approach.

The Postdoctoral Scholar will have opportunities to advance their research, as well both teach and evaluate modules developed as part of the project. They will benefit from an expansive mentoring program and find mentors and conversation partners among faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students both within and outside the department who are engaged in research on related topics.
Application Process

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in geography/GIScience, library science, education, public health, social science, human-computer interaction, or related discipline by the starting date. 

The ideal candidate will have experience with the basics of geography & GIScience, experience with GIS using open-source software and/or coding languages (ex. GeoDa, QGIS, R, or python), excellent communication and writing skills, community engagement experience and/or interest, and familiarity and willingness to learn git and GitHub, and other open source/science tools. 

Applicants should applyat: go.illinois.edu/herop-postdoc and include a cover letter, curriculum vitae (CV), research interest statement (a discussion of past research, expertise, and research interests), and contact information for three references. Because the topic of this project spans multiple disciplines, the applicant must make a case for how their background, experience, and research interests align. For example, experience with community engagement, communications, design, and instructional workshops (eg. The Carpentries) may all be beneficial when discussing motivation for application.

The anticipated hiring range is $50,000-$60,000 per year, dependent on experience. This position is benefits eligible (ie. health, dental, and vision insurance) and family friendly. Additional benefits unique to this position include computing equipment, vacation, flexible scheduling, and remote-work possibility. Read more on housing and transportation options at the UIUC Graduate College website. The cost of living in CU is approximately 13% lower than the national average, and the area also boasts excellent public transportation infrastructure and a vibrant biking community. 

Please apply by March 1, 2023. The start of the position can be May 2023, July 2023, or September 2023. Applications will be reviewed weekly until the position is filled. The appointment is for two years, with the possibility of renewal pending satisfactory performance and continued funding.
About the Lab

HEROP integrates innovative GIScience, public health, and statistical approaches to explore, understand, and promote healthy regions and policies. Our group is dedicated to Open Science and open source methodology & applications. We are committed to research translation for policy & public use. We’re interested in how place drives, interacts with, and influences health for different people, in different ways. To explore this further, we look at neighborhoods as complex systems with spatial signals that help decode their stories. Our research portfolio includes funding by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and National Aeronautics & Space Administration.

HEROP Lab is housed at the Department of Geography & GIScience at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is among the nation’s most distinguished teaching and research institutions, home to the second largest academic library in the United States and the largest map collection among public universities. Geography & GIS at Illinois is a vibrant and diverse department at the forefront of geographic and geospatial research and education.

Health Data Visualization Contest

The Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group (HMGSG) is pleased to announce the fourth year of the Health Data VisualizationContest. The past award information can be found here. This year we will offer monetary awards for winners. The contest deadline is Wednesday, March 1st 2023. Winners will be announced at the HMGSG Business Meeting at AAG 2023.

What to Submit

A spatial data visualization offers insight into some health or medical geography topics. It could be a static graphic, an interactive web page, a narrative or story-telling map, etc. Your visualization can focus on one topic in detail or facilitate the exploration of multiple associations. No maps are required, but the data you visualize should have some spatial component. We offer two awards for this contest-one for a static visualization and one for a dynamic and/or interactive visualization.

Details

Requirements

• Individual or team submissions are accepted, but at least one person should be an AAG member. Individuals can only be listed on one submission.
• Health-related data must come from you or your team or be based on publicly accessible secondary data.
• The submission should contain one graphic element or a composite of multiple graphics that are meant to be viewed as a single visualization(e.g., data dashboard)
• The visualization must incorporate some spatial aspect or feature of the data.
• If clinical or personal health information is used, data must be de-identified with no way of tracing back to individuals.

Submission Protocol

• Submit using this form
  • Application form
• Submissions should be submitted as a file (pdf, png, etc.) or link (URL, GitHub page, etc.). A short (< 300 words) description should also be included.

Important Dates

• Submission Deadline: Wednesday, March 1st, 2023, at midnight EST
• Winners Announced: HMGSG Business Meeting at AAG, Denver, CO

Awards

• $100 static, $100 dynamic
• Winners will receive a certificate at the HMGSG specialty group meeting

Core Review Team

• TBD

The AAG Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group (HMGSG) is seeking nominations for the following positions for the 2023-2024 Board:

– 1 Vice-Chair

– 2 At-Large Board Members

– 2 Graduate Student Members

The Vice-Chair serves a one-year term and transitions to Chair in the second year. The At-Large and Graduate Student board members serve a two-year term. 

All HMGSG members are eligible to serve or to nominate another HMGSG member. Before nominating someone, please contact them to assure they are willing and available to serve if elected. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged. 

If you are interested in serving in any of these positions or nominating another person, please email Paul Delamater (pld@email.unc.edu). Nominees will be required to provide:

• Which position you are interested in 
• Document containing your full name, title and degree, institutional affiliation, and a one-paragraph bio (including your academic/professional interests)

The deadline for nominations is March 10th, 2023.

Voting will take place in the week leading up to the HMGSG Business Meeting on March 25th, 2023 at the AAG annual meeting (winners will be announced at the Business Meeting).

Thank you for your support of the HMGSG Specialty Group!

Hello HMGSG!

We’re collecting HMGSG members’ newsworthy accomplishments for inclusion in our 2023 HMGSG Newsletter!  Generally, people submit awards, grants, papers, or other fun or interesting achievements from the past year (March 2022 to February 2023).  This is a great way for you to increase visibility of your work and accolades… and to simply let your colleagues know what you’ve been up to.

So, please dust off your CV, go to this user friendly, easy to complete form, and let us help you get the word out.  We will accept submissions until March 3rd, 2023.

If you have questions, feel free to email Paul at pld@email.unc.edu

See attached flyer!

Qualifications/Responsibilities: Applicants must have their doctoral degree in epidemiology, sociology, geography, economics, or a related field by the start of the position. Expertise in areas of social, structural, and/or geographical determinants of health is strongly preferred, as is experience with longitudinal and spatial analysis. Duties of the postdoctoral associate include preparation of area-level data, data analysis, and manuscript writing. The position will entail working closely with an interdisciplinary team of investigators from the fields of lifespan development, population health, sociology, geography, and biostatistics. The associate will engage in self-directed research and team science, as they take the lead on one to two manuscripts per year and co-author several additional ones. Advanced research training and access to University resources will be provided to help the associate prepare for a research career.

Application Procedure: Submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, list of three references, and two relevant publications or preprints at utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/144226. Review of applications will begin on March 1, 2023 and will continue until filled. The start date is flexible but ideally will begin no later than July 1st, 2023. This position is anticipated to be for at least two years, with renewal after the first 12 months contingent on performance. For inquiries, please contact the primary supervisor Dr. David Curtis at david.curtis@fcs.utah.edu.

A second postdoctoral associate position is available at Hong Kong University. This position is linked to this research project and has similar qualifications and expectations, but the employer and employment site will be Hong Kong University. Direct inquiries to the site faculty mentor, Ming Wen, at mingwen@hku.hk.

We invite submissions to a special logo Design Competition. Prizes will be awarded for the 1st ($250) 2nd ($100) and 3rd ($50) place entries.

Submission Details

• Submissions must be submitted electronically, but be appropriate for use in both web- and print-based materials

• Acceptable file formats include (but are not limited to ) tiff, jpg, png, gif
• See attached flyer for examples of other AAG Specialty Group logos
• Submissions should be emailed directly to Paul Delamater (pld@email.unc.edu) with the subject line: HMGSG Logo Competition Submission
• Submissions are limited to 3 per person
• The submission deadline is December 31, 2022

Eligibility

• Any member of the American Association of Geographers is eligible to sumit

Review

• the winners will be chosen via a popular vote open to all HMGSG members
• The new logo and prize winners will be announced at the HMGSG Business Meeting at the 2023 Annual Conference in Denver, CO

Questions or Concerns?

• Feel Free to reach out to Paul Delamater (pld@email.unc.edu) if you have any questions about the competition!

On behalf of HMGSG, I am excited to announce our first set of talks part of our Speaker Series. Please Join us on Wednesday , October 26th at 1 PM EST . We will hear from Dr Debs Ghosh (University of Connecticut) and Dr. Jared Aldstadt (SUNY at Buffalo). You can register at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/6v445bpm

Dear HMGSG members, The board would like to provide mentoring opportunities to students at the AAG virtual conference.  Faculty, industry employees, or senior PhD students will help students in topics for graduate school, jobs, and research related to health and medical geography.  

The main mentoring opportunity will be during the HMGSG social on 2/26/22 from 1-2pm EST where we will provide breakout rooms and assign students based on interest/topics.

If you are interested, please fill out the attached Google form by 2/25/22 by 11:59 EST.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgkPbgTEXZOwgA_G6kIofD0dmJIJ1p-zq-dzOj0BaFZB1pZw/viewform?usp=sf_link

If you have any questions, please contact Michael Desjardins (mail to: mdesjar3@jhu.edu) and Dayani Davilla (mail to: DayaniDavilla@my.unt.edu)