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The Department of Health Promotion Education and Behavior from the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina is seeking applications for a Postdoctoral fellowship. The postdoctoral research position provides an opportunity to join existing teams assessing the impact of policies across different countries. The post-doctoral research scholar will work primarily with Drs. James Thrasher and Rachel Davis.

The person hired for this specific opening will mainly work on labeling policy research projects funded by the National Institute of Health. Depending on applicant interest, the project on which the postdoc works could include one or both of the following:

• Nutrition labeling Policy in Mexico and the U.S. Between 2020 and 2021, Mexico will implement mandatory FOP warnings in the form of prominent “stop signs” on packaged foods that are high in calories, sodium, sugar, saturated fat, or trans fats, as well as products with added caffeine or non-caloric sweeteners. To evaluate the relative effectiveness of these new US and Mexican policies, the current study leverages data from the International Food Policy Study (IFPS), which has annually surveyed approximately 4000 US and 4000 Mexican adults since 2018. The proposed study will continue annual surveys of Mexican consumers through 2024 (n=4000/year) while providing an oversample of US Mexican Americans (MAs; n=2000/year) who comprise approximately two-thirds of all US Latinxs. We will recruit additional samples of Mexicans (n=1500/year) and MAs (n=1500/year) with lower education. This pre/post study will compare within- and between-countries over time to address two aims. Aim 1 will evaluate the impact of the mandatory FOP warnings in Mexico relative to NFL changes in the US. We hypothesize that increases in awareness/use of nutrition labels, nutrition knowledge, and healthy dietary behaviors will be greater in Mexico than in the US, including US MAs. Aim 2 will evaluate disparities in the effects of these nutrition labeling policies.
• Evaluation of cigarette labeling policies in a randomized controlled trial using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) among people who smoke in the US, as well as pre/post policy surveys (interrupted time series) and EMA in Canada.

The Postdoctoral fellow will coordinate research across participating sites and will contribute to the production of scientific manuscripts.

This fellowship is anticipated to be a full time 12-month position, with possible renewal after the first year is completed based on evaluation of training and organizational fit.

Minimum Qualifications:

• PhD in a social science or public-health related field.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills required. Must be detail oriented and have strong writing skills, including evidence for leadership conceptualizing and writing scientific publications.
• Expertise leading quantitative analyses, including analyses of survey data.
• Expertise with evaluation of communication and policy effects on perceptions and behaviors.