Postdoctoral Researcher in digital epidemioogy

A Postdoctoral position is available starting in the 2026-27 academic year in the team of Prof. Michael Edelstein, professor of public health and epidemiology at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel. 

Prof Michael Edelstein’s team focuses on improving the equitable delivery of immunization programmes, including optimizing approaches to data use to improve the delivery of these programmes. 

Undervacination costs 2 million lives and $250 billion every year. We are building something new to address it — and we're looking for the person who will help us build it from the ground up. We are interested in recruiting a postdoctoral fellow, initially for a period of 12 months (extensible subject to mutual satisfaction), to focus on a new initiative: building a synthetic population mirroring Israeli society, seeded from real-world survey and interview data, to enable virtual evaluations of vaccine-related public health interventions before deploying them in the real world. Down the line, success with this project has the potential to change how governments design and implement vaccination strategies. The project sits at the forefront of the intersection between AI, epidemiology and health policy.

The Role

This is a central position at the heart of the project. This is a new project, and you will be there from day 1, impacting on the entire approach, not just the outputs. You will work directly alongside the Principal Investigator, have an opportunity to steer the project’s direction, own the technical pipeline, and mentor/supervise junior team members. The project navigates relatively uncharted methodological territory, and the right candidate will be energised rather than unsettled by that: he/she will have to demonstrate flexibility, creativity,  an appetite for risk and the ability to adapt when things don’t go according to plan.

Specifically, the right candidate will:

• Lead the integration of real world data into agent parameters
• Build and maintain the LLM-driven agentic simulation framework 
• Design and Coordinate the AI coding pipeline and human validation process
• Collaborate closely with other epidemiologists, modellers, and qualitative researchers
• Mentor and or/supervise junior team members
• Lead the execution of the project’s scientific outputs
• Present the project’s outputs in scientific conferences. 

Eligibility Criteria

Worldwide applications are encouraged. The faculty will assist international candidates with visa applications where required. 

• The following are required:

• PhD in epidemiology, public health, computational social science, computer science or a related field
• Demonstrated experience working with agentic AI frameworks and large language models — ideally in applied or research settings
• Strong track record of handling, linking, and analysing complex, multi-source datasets
• Experience of at least one statistical package such as R or Python
• Fluency in English
• Demonstrable track record of scientific curiosity,  taking initiative and being proactive
• A publication track record
• Ability to work across disciplines

• A strong plus (but not required)
• Familiarity with disease modelling or simulation
• Languages relevant to Israel (Hebrew, Arabic, Russian)
• Background in vaccines, health policy, or population health research

The position is based at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine in Safed, Northern Israel. Working arrangements are flexible, including hybrid arrangements for the right candidate. 

Applications should be made by email before July 31 2026 directly to [email protected] and include:

-A detailed CV (2 pages maximum) including publications

-A short covering letter in English (1 page maximum) highlighting your motivation for applying and your relevant research experience and capabilities

If you are interested but not sure whether your profile matches, or if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

About the Faculty,

The Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University was established in the year 2011 in the heart of the Galilee. It has rapidly established itself as a leading institution in research and medical education with a global reputation for excellence.  Today the faculty is home to over 30 principal investigators and their teams in a range of biomedical disciplines.