Staff Scientist - Behavioral Insights Team
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AI Summary
Location:
Work from home (Pennsylvania)Shift:
Days (United States of America)Scheduled Weekly Hours:
40Worker Type:
RegularExemption Status:
YesJob Summary:
Geisinger seeks an outstanding behavioral scientist to serve as a Staff Scientist for its Behavioral Insights Team (BIT). The BIT was created in 2018 to apply behavioral science methods to the design, implementation, and experimental evaluation of “nudges” and other lightweight behavioral interventions intended to improve outcomes and experiences for patients, clinicians, employees, and other stakeholders of the Geisinger Health System and beyond. In addition to internal colleagues, the BIT collaborates closely with external leading behavioral scientists and research partners, including those at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Harvard, and MIT via the NBER Roybal Center for Behavior Change in Health by executing 1 or 2 NIH-funded field experiments per year at Geisinger. BIT field experiments often involve tens of thousands of patients and successful interventions are expected to become standard practice at Geisinger. Project areas include encouraging vaccination, increasing health and wellness, improving clinician decision-making, and helping patients make better choices about their health.The Staff Scientist will support the BIT in developing, executing, and analyzing data (preferably in R) and reporting for the team’s projects, including taking the lead on BIT projects as appropriate and first- or co-authoring scientific publications. BIT projects have been published or are forthcoming in high-impact journals, including PNAS, Nature Human Behaviour, JAMA Network Open, The Journal of Pediatrics, and JAMIA Open. The Staff Scientist will also be responsible for sharing findings at scientific conferences and with lay audiences (e.g., non-scientist teams at Geisinger), and for engaging in open-science best practices (e.g., preregistering projects, preparing and sharing de-identified data and code). The Staff Scientist will report to Gail Rosenbaum, PhD, the BIT Program Director, with oversight and mentorship by Professors Michelle Meyer, PhD, JD, and Christopher Chabris, PhD, the founding Faculty Co-Directors of the BIT.
The Staff Scientist will also support program evaluations that the BIT conducts as part of the greater Geisinger Program Evaluation (GPE) team (led by Amir Goren, PhD, GPE Director), whose purpose is to conduct rigorous evaluations of high-cost and potentially high-impact interventions intended to improve patient health, or efficiency at Geisinger.
This is an indefinite position, but past BIT Staff Scientists have gone on to work at Google, Lirio, MDRC, and ideas42.
Job Duties:
Major duties and responsibilities:
Assisting the Program Director in day-to-day operations and development of the BIT
Liaising, initiating, and coordinating execution of projects with internal and external stakeholders; this includes Geisinger groups such as clinical departments, the IRB, and the compliance, quality, and legal functions, “nudge units” at other institutions, and leading researchers at collaborating institutions
Conducting literature searches and reviewing the literature to inform the team’s projects
Contributing to or leading manuscript drafting and submission for existing unpublished BIT studies, and for new studies led by the staff scientist (first-author opportunities available)
Helping to write grants to support the team’s work, as well as helping identify and initiate funded programs and projects
Participating in the design of nudges for implementation at Geisinger
Participating in data management, analysis, and visualization to assess the effects of implemented nudges, including their effects on patient outcomes, other outcomes, and their economic value
Engaging in open science best practices (e.g., preregistration, preparing and sharing de-identified data and code)
Assisting other groups at Geisinger with designing and implementing nudges
Assisting other groups at Geisinger with evaluating programs
Creating presentations to disseminate BIT findings both internally and externally with diverse audiences
Work is typically performed in an office environment. Accountable for satisfying all job specific obligations and complying with all organization policies and procedures. The specific statements in this profile are not intended to be all-inclusive. They represent typical elements considered necessary to successfully perform the job.
Position Details:
Geisinger is a large, integrated health services organization founded in 1915. Through its 11 hospital campuses, the Geisinger Health Plan, and the Geisinger College of Health Sciences, which includes the Clinical Education Institute and Research Institute, the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM), and the Geisinger School of Nursing, Geisinger serves more than 1 million residents throughout 46 counties in central, south-central, and northeastern Pennsylvania. The system includes over 26,000 employees, including over 1,700 employed physicians, while Geisinger Health Plan serves over 550,000 members. Geisinger’s main campus in Danville, PA, is located within a three-hour drive of New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.
This position falls under the Research Institute within the Geisinger College of Health Sciences. The Research Institute is engaged in investigating a broad range of research topics, including genomics, population health, and bioethics and decision sciences, using a broad range of methods, including data science and informatics, implementation science, and health services research. Research at Geisinger benefits from the system’s nearly 30 years of electronic health records, its clinical and genomics data warehouses, and its large, stable patient population. Geisinger’s research environment involves over 400 team members including more than 40 research faculty and a growing number of clinicians and learners engaging in collaborative research. In 2024, Geisinger was awarded $41 million in external grant and contract funding, carried out more than 1,400 research studies, including clinical trials, and published over 1,400 scientific articles.
The ideal Staff Scientist candidate will have experience both in conducting original behavioral science research and in implementing research results within organizations. A Ph.D. in psychology, economics, decision sciences, marketing, management, or another relevant scholarly discipline is strongly preferred, and track records of publishing original empirical research, collaborating with others, and applying for research funding are required. The Staff Scientist may be based in Danville, Pennsylvania at the main campus and headquarters of Geisinger (preferred) or may work remotely from another U.S. location with occasional travel to Danville.
To apply: Please send a cover letter, C.V. or resume, and two representative scholarly publications in a single email to behavioralinsightsteam@geisinger.edu. Please also include names, titles, and contact information for three references (we will contact you before reaching out to your references). Questions about the position may also be sent to the same address. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.
Behavioral Insights Team: https://www.geisinger.org/innovation-steele-institute/innovative-partners/behavioral-insights-team
Papers describing recent BIT work:
Promoting Patient portal enrollment and engagement: https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooag064
Pediatrics lipids screening alerts: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2024.113973
COVID-19 vaccination nudges: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.18702
Flu vaccination mega study 1: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115126119
Flu vaccination mega study 2: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101165118
Machine learning-based risk nudges: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/vtxza_v1
Dr. Rosenbaum: grosenbaum@geisinger.edu
Dr. Goren: agoren@geisinger.edu
Professor Meyer: http://www.michellenmeyer.com
Professor Chabris: http://www.chabris.com
Required qualifications:
Experience using statistical software (preferably R, others acceptable)
Strong critical thinking skills
Curiosity and problem-solving skills to proactively identify solutions to pragmatic challenges in a complex healthcare system environment
Ability to work in an independent manner and complete increasingly complex assignments
Strong teamwork skills and the ability to work effectively in a group environment
Exceptional organizational, planning, and analytical skills
Competence in written, oral, and electronic communication skills (interpersonal/communication and technological effectiveness competencies)
Desired qualifications:
Experience researching and/or implementing nudges
Experience with open science best practices
Training in behavioral economics
Experience with econometrics
Experience in interdisciplinary research and working in collaborative teams
Experience in the healthcare industry
Experience with programming and databases (e.g., Python, SQL)
Experience with successful applications for external funding
Education and/or experience:
A Ph.D. in psychology, economics, decision sciences, marketing, management, or any other relevant discipline is highly desired, but exceptional candidates with other credentials will be considered
Graduate training in behavioral science research methods, including experimentation and multivariate data analysis
Minimum 3 years’ post-graduate experience managing behavioral or other research projects and supervising or otherwise collaborating actively in a team setting
Experience applying for research funding or other grant support
Scholarly publications
Education:
Doctoral Degree- (Required), Doctoral Degree-Behavioral Science (Preferred)Experience:
Minimum of 3 years-Related work experience (Required)Certification(s) and License(s):
Skills:
Reference Content, Research Analysis, Research And Development Function, Research Documents, Research MethodologiesOUR PURPOSE & VALUES: Everything we do is about caring for our patients, our members, our students, our Geisinger family and our communities.
- KINDNESS: We strive to treat everyone as we would hope to be treated ourselves.
- EXCELLENCE: We treasure colleagues who humbly strive for excellence.
- LEARNING: We share our knowledge with the best and brightest to better prepare the caregivers for tomorrow.
- INNOVATION: We constantly seek new and better ways to care for our patients, our members, our community, and the nation.
- SAFETY: We provide a safe environment for our patients and members and the Geisinger family.
We offer healthcare benefits for full time and part time positions from day one, including vision, dental and domestic partners. Perhaps just as important, we encourage an atmosphere of collaboration, cooperation and collegiality.
We know that a diverse workforce with unique experiences and backgrounds makes our team stronger. Our patients, members and community come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and it takes a diverse workforce to make better health easier for all. We are proud to be an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or status as a protected veteran.
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