Project: Genetic and labor market influences on health over the life cycle (PRIN PNRR 2022 CUP: J53D23015120001) funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU
Research Project: Health inequality starts at conception and grows over the life cycle. These inequalities in mental and physical health arise due to a combination of nature and nurture, where genetics may either mitigate or reinforce the impact of the environment. This project combines methods from genetics and economics to study how the interplay between individuals’ genetic endowments and their environment (gene-environment interactions, GxE) affects health outcomes throughout the life span. We will focus on an extensive set of primary health outcomes (hospitalization, mental health, physical health, self-reported medical conditions, and biomarkers), as well as, on secondary outcomes (cognitive function, education, income, employment and working conditions). This project will identify the causal effect of the environment exploiting natural experiments, causality being key to devising policy. It will also examine the effects of such environmental shocks on a biological measure of health, epigenetic methylation, to understand which stressors induce a faster pace of aging and if there is scope to slow down senescing and health decline. Mapping how genes interact with the environment may have profound consequences for our understanding of innate and economic inequality. This project could help identify interventions that reduce health disparities and improve human wellbeing throughout the life course. This project is in collaboration with Elisabetta De Cao (University of Bologna), Pietro Biroli (University of Bologna), Silvia Mendolia (University of Torino). A second parallel post-doc position on the same project will be open contemporaneously by University of Bologna.
Application Requirements:
The ideal candidate should be interested and have experience in doing research in scientific areas related to research activities of the project. In particular: statistical analysis of micro-data with a focus on causal inference; proven experience in biostatistics or econometrics on topics related to labor economics, health economics, epidemiology, genetic predispositions, health inequality, intergenerational inequality.
The candidate is expected to be an experienced user of software and programming languages for statistical data analysis (data cleaning, data analysis) such as STATA, R, Python.
The post-doc researcher will work with Health Retirement Study (HRS) data and will visit multiple times during the project the Institute for North Caroline Population Center to access AddHealth data, and Princeton to access Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS).
Salary Range: € 66.000,00 gross, the amount is exempted from “Irpef tax” (income tax)
Degree required:
In order to participate in the competition, having a PhD or equivalent carried out in Italy or abroad, or in the course of being conferred (PhD student), is a desirable criterion.
Application instructions: Applicants should apply by submitting their complete package via our on-line application system, which can be found at www.unibocconi.eu/faculty-postdoc by 12 January 2024.
Bocconi University is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty. Applications are particularly welcome from women and members of groups who are under-represented in academic posts.
About the Organization
The Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policy (Dondena) is an international centre for applied research based on an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of Population and Social Dynamics, Politics and Institutions, Taxation and the Welfare State and Health and Society.
Its researchers develop and adopt innovative analytical methods to understand and evaluate complex relationships and changes over time.
The Centre hosts several large research projects, funded by a variety of sources.
Some MSc Students may also conduct their curricular (or non-curricular) internship within the Centre.
The Dondena Centre is member of the European Consortium for Sociological Research (ECSR).