The Public Policy Institute (PPI) is the focal point of public policy research, analysis and development at AARP. Founded in 1985, PPI staff engages in research, policy analysis, and frequently convenes leading policy experts for discussion of key national and state policy issues. In addition, staff provides critical research and analytical support for AARP’s education and advocacy activities at the federal, state, and local levels.

PPI is expanding its scope of work to include health services research, using large scale claims, clinical, and behavioral data to which we have access under a collaborative agreement with our research partners. The linked data are unique and present an unprecedented opportunity to explore questions that heretofore have been challenging because of data constraints. The collaborative agreement also offers opportunities to coauthor papers and collaborate on projects with other researchers in academic, non-profit, and private institutions.

Responsibilities:

PPI is seeking two energetic, self-starting health services researchers to join our health team. The primary role of the position will be to design and conduct research using these data. The position is open to candidates with a strong research background in health care, with preference given to individuals with experience and interest in Medicare, Medicaid, prescription drugs, and health policy research.

The successful candidates will play a leadership role in exploring the potential of the data, developing a research agenda using the data, conducting the research, and publishing results. The candidates will work closely with managers and others in the Association to pursue research opportunities with the data. Responsibilities may include collaborating with other researchers through co-authorships or project management, and other activities that contribute to the growth of the team in health services research. Researchers will be expected to disseminate results through papers, presentations, policy briefs, and other distribution channels. Resources will be available to researchers for programming and other technical support. These are full-time, permanent positions located in Washington, DC.

Qualifications:

• The ideal individuals will have a PhD, or equivalent, in economics, public health, epidemiology, social sciences, public policy, health services research, or other relevant discipline, or an M.D. or M.P.H. with substantial research experience.
• The individuals should have excellent writing and communication skills. The successful candidate will be able to write technical papers for an academic audience and also communicate complicated results to a non-technical policy audience through papers, presentations, and other distribution channels.
• Proven ability to design, complete, and publish applied research in health care. Preference given to individuals with experience working with large datasets, or supervising programmers using large datasets.
• Demonstrated ability to forge collaborative and cross-discipline research opportunities.
• Some preference given to individuals with experience managing external research projects to completion in a timely manner.
• Comfortable working in a team based environment.
• All candidates with demonstrated experience designing, completing, and publishing health services research, or related area, will be considered.
• Salary will be commensurate with experience and background.

Qualified applicants are invited to apply online at www.aarpjobs.com.