2 Fully-funded open positions for PhD students at the Department of Pharmaceuticals Outcomes & Policy (POP) at The University of Florida

The Department of Pharmaceuticals Outcomes & Policy (POP) in the College of Pharmacy (COP) at The University of Florida (UF), Gainesville has two fully-funded open positions for highly motivated PhD students. Research in these positions is focused on the intersection of decision and data science with healthcare policy and management. Prospective students are expected to join in Fall 2024. Assistantship will include a competitive stipend alongside a coverage of tuition, and other fees. These openings are part of the UF’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Initiative (https://ai.ufl.edu) aimed at advancing the University to a national and world-wide leader in the application of AI. This initiative is supported by a $70 million initial investment by NVIDIA to build the most powerful AI supercomputer in higher education in the world.

Selected students will work with Dr. Md Mahmudul Hasan and engage in research projects focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) to contribute to healthcare decision-making, health policy, and healthcare management. Specifically, research will focus on designing novel and efficient data-driven methodologies and predictive analytic models to answer important questions about clinical and pharmaceuticals outcomes. Research will also focus on developing empirically informed prescriptive decision-analytic models (integrating machine learning and optimization methods) for assisting in medical decision-making and designing personalized interventions instrumental to solve public health problems.

Candidates will receive hands-on training in working in a high-performance computing environment in order to capitalize the power of large-scale healthcare administrative data and Electronic Health Records (EHR). Selected candidates will have opportunities to extend Dr. Hasan’s current research on improving morbidity and mortality from opioid overdose and ensuring effective management of opioid addiction treatment. Potential disease areas to explore include but are not limited to poly-substance use, mental health disorder, diabetes, hypertension, etc.

Required Qualifications

• A Bachelor or M.S degree in Engineering (Computer Science, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Biomedical Engineering), Data Science, Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy, Public Health, Health/Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics, or other closely related fields.
• Strong interest to conduct research at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and statistical modeling with healthcare decision-making, health policy, and healthcare management.
• Strong background in data science (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning)
• Need to have strong competence in Python programming language and using Python libraries relevant to data science applications. Skill in other software (R/Rstudio and SAS) will be an advantage.
• Publication(s) in peer-reviewed journal are preferred.
• Fulfill the PhD admission requirements set by UF POP and COP

Admission Requirements

N.B. The deadlines are preferred. However, the applications are accepted almost around the year. Therefore, candidates with strong interest are highly encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

Interested candidates are encouraged to email the following documents to Dr. Md Mahmudul Hasan at hasan.mdmahmudul@ufl.edu

• A detailed CV
• A statement of maximum two pages outlining the candidate’s research interest, prior research experience, and future research plans
• Sample publications (if any)

About UF & POP

UF is one of the nation’s top 10 universities with the Carnegie R1 classification. Being a Tier 1 research university, UF research plays a significant role in producing innovative breakthroughs that leads to the technologies with positive benefits. In healthcare, UF focuses to transform research into practice and prevention that has substantial impact in shaping healthcare policies and healthcare management at a state and federal level.

The COP is ranked number 5 among the pharmacy colleges in the US. Within COP, the department of POP has one of the largest PhD program in the pharmaceutical outcomes and policy. The department’s focus in research and graduate training is centered on the evaluation of drugs and related medical technologies. This focus includes classic pharmacoepidemiologic and pharmacoeconomic work, as well as pharmaceutical health services research with a focus on quality, safety, and policy involving medication use. In consortium with the UF’s AI initiative, the department of POP is embedding AI/ML in its research and graduate training curriculum with several well-known faculty members.