About the T32 Postdoctoral Training Program in Translational Population Health and Data Science Using Service Member, Veteran and Civilian Healthcare Datasets
The NIH-funded T32 Big Data Analytics (BDA T32) postdoctoral training program at VCU Center for Rehabilitation Science and VCU Wright Center trains fellows in the use of Veteran and civilian mega-datasets to improve health and outcomes.
Fellows will work with a combination of mentors from different health domains and those with methodological expertise from the VCU schools of Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Public Health; the College of Engineering; the College of Health Professions; and Central Virginia Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Together, program mentors hold $20 million in active annual research funding.
Each fellow completes a tailored course of study to build the following skills:

Potential areas of focus include:
- Health services utilization and outcomes for beneficiaries on Medicare and Medicaid programs
- Assessing health of service members transitioning from DoD to VA care
- Exploring healthcare utilization and outcomes of dually-enrolled (CMS/VA) Veterans
- Harmonizing CMS-VA-DOW datasets to understand the complex needs and outcomes of these populations
- Comparing risk and protective factors for healthcare utilization and outcomes between civilians and military veterans
- Informing civilian population and individual-level interventions, research programs, and policy
- Examining quality of services across military, veteran and civilian healthcare systems
Applicant eligibility
Candidates should have a doctorate (MD, DO, PhD, SciD) in a relevant discipline by the start of the fellowship from an accredited domestic or foreign educational institution. In addition, candidates should have demonstrated an interest in population health or data science, and experience working in and fostering a collaborative faculty, staff and student environment or commitment to do so as a postdoc at VCU. Candidates MUST have a green card or U.S. citizenship.
Applications Opening Soon!
Application Process
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed upon receipt. Available slots are dependent on the number of positions actively filled. All applications must include the following:
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Statement of interest with applicant’s career goals, research accomplishments, experiences in practice/research, attributes and experiences that would provide value to training and research, and how participating in the VCU BDA T32 program would advance their career goals
- Transcript(s)
- Copies of sample publications and grants authored
- Two letters of recommendation
For information or questions about the T32 program, email hahnj2@vcu.edu.
Richmond, VA

There are six Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) health science schools—medicine, public health, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and health professions—located in Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Nicknamed “River City”, or RVA, Richmond sits alongside the James River line in the Piedmont region, and serves as the center of the metropolitan area known for its rich cultural history.
VCU and regional organizations collaborate to support fellows:

VCU Center for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering (CERSE)
CERSE fosters transdisciplinary, rehabilitation research and training to improve the health, function, and life quality of persons with disability. CERSE faculty and staff collaborate with VA researchers and provide full research infrastructure on topics such as regenerative medicine, applied robotics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. CERSE developed the BDA T32 program with VA researchers and administers the program.
VCU Data Hub
CERSE’s Data Hub is led by CERSE/PM&R Professor and BDA T32 Program MPI Amol Karmarkar, PhD, a national expert in health services and health policy research. The Data Hub provides health services researchers across VCU with access to Medicare, Virginia All Claims, and other claims data; and optimized functionality of the TriNetX system to study VCU Health patient populations for service use and outcomes, including finding patients for clinical research studies.
VCU Wright Center
The Wright Center is the NIH-funded Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) hub at VCU, and includes regional partners such as the local affiliate Veterans Affairs. The BDA T32 is a component of the CTSA, and fellows will be integrated into the Wright Center’s training opportunities.
Central Virginia Veterans Affairs Health Care System (CVHCS)
CVHCS is a part of the Veterans Integrated Service Network 6 (VISN 6) and has >60,000 unique Veterans. It provides care for annually across a catchment area of more than 200,000 Veterans, including Veterans living in rural areas. CVHCS is a national leader in Veteran and Service Member polytrauma rehabilitation care and research and is a primary referral site for DoW installations for Service Members with polytrauma combat injuries.
David Cifu, M.D.,
Chair
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
School of Medicine
Amol Karmarkar, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
School of Medicine
Ananda B. Amstadter, PhD
Professor, VCU Departments of Psychiatry and Human and Molecular Genetics
Jasmohan Bajaj, MD
Professor, Richmond VA Medical Center (R-VAMC) Research Service
Andrew J. Barnes, PhD
Professor, VCU Department of Health Behavior and Policy
James M. Bjork, PhD
Associate Professor, Richmond VA Medical Center (R-VAMC) Research Service, VCU Department of Psychiatry – IDAS
Gretchen M. Brophy, PharmD
Professor (tenured), VCU School of Pharmacy Department of Pharmacotherapy & Outcomes Science
Sarmar El Khoudary, PhD
Professor, VCU Department of Epidemiology
Bernard Fuemmeler, PhD, MPH
Professor, VCU Department of Family Medicine
John Hermansen, MD
Richmond VA Medical Center (R-VAMC)
Patricia Kinser, PhD
Professor, VCU Department of Family and Community Health Nursing
Daniel W. Klyce, PhD
Associate Professor, Richmond VA Medical Center (R-VAMC) Research Service
Alex Krist, MD/MPH
Professor, VCU Department of Family Medicine
Lukasz Kurgan, PhD
Prof, VCU Department of Computer Science
Lisa H. Merck, MD MPH MA
Prof, VCU Department of Emergency Medicine
Shillpa Naavaal, BDS, MS, MPH
Associate Professor, VCU Department of Dental Public Health
S. Patrick Nana-Sinkam, MD
Professor, VCU Department of Internal Medicine
Robert Perera, PhD
Associate Professor, VCU Department of Biostatistics
Paul Perrin, PhD
Richmond VA Medical Center (R-VAMC) Research Service
Ronald Seel, PhD
Professor, VCU Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R)
Vanessa Sheppard, PhD
Professor, VCU Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
William C. Walker, MD
Professor, VCU Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R)
Leland Waters, PhD
Associate Professor, VCU Department of Gerontology
T. Brady Wright, MD
Richmond VA Medical Center (R-VAMC)