| Company Information:
The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, founded in 1975, is one of 40 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the country. The Center’s mission is to reduce cancer occurrence and death in North Carolina and the nation through research, treatment, training and outreach. The foundation for optimizing cancer outcomes in North Carolina and beyond is being provided by a unique, comprehensive cancer information system: the North Carolina Integrated Cancer Information and Surveillance System (ICISS). By linking and accessing multiple populations, clinical and other data sources over time, ICISS prospectively creates valid (and replicable) measures of outcomes of cancer control activities, especially among vulnerable subgroups and communities that have been traditionally under-represented. Further, ICISS research seeks to identify factors that influence the occurrence of cancer in North Carolina. By greatly enhancing the ability of researchers to gather and share information across disciplines, ICISS can help North Carolinians make more informed choices about cancer prevention and control, whether they lead community-based organizations, state and county health departments, university or industry-based research teams, or health policy organizations. In support of UNC’s / UCRF’s goal of optimizing cancer outcomes in North Carolina, the immediate goal of this effort is to (1) develop a multi-component, multilevel relational secondary database for systematic surveillance and examination of cancer outcomes in terms of occurrence, prevention, early detection, treatment, and control in North Carolina; and (2) assure its long term utility and viability by conducting meaningful analyses in the short-term that (a) begin to improve outcomes and/or (b) serve as pilot studies for larger, subsequent examinations, while (c) demonstrating value of this resource; and 3) expand the resource as needed and continue a high level of curation and accessibility for investigators following strict confidentiality and security guidelines and procedures.
Position Title:
Research Associate
Duties & Responsibilities:
This position will be a Research Associate with a strong statistical/biostatistical background to support multiple cancer-focused research studies. These studies will primarily use very large (e.g., 1000+ variables; 100 million+ observations) secondary datasets such as SEER-Medicare, or North Carolina Central Cancer Registry-linked administrative (insurance) claims data. The majority of studies will be retrospective in nature. The position will primarily be responsible for helping with study design, analysis and interpretation. SAS is the primary data management and analysis software package, and substantial prior experience using SAS is required in order to merge and create analytic files – candidates without demonstrated SAS experience on their application materials will not be considered. The position will work with a multidisciplinary research team in supporting multiple cancer focused studies. This position will be responsible for working with the team to focus on study design and statistical analysis in support of these projects, while also informing data structure for creating analytic data files out of raw data files. Other roles will include consulting and advising in the development of a large, integrated set of relational data bases and knowledge systems to facilitate future research using secondary data. In addition, the position will be expected to contribute to the ongoing development of the ICISS team and associated projects through professional representation of the team and ongoing discussions of projects and objectives. Job Responsibilities include: 1. Describe and analyze data in SAS, using multiple statistical approaches for interpretation of research questions 2. Create/Manage/Merge multiple disparate datasets in SAS or comparable statistical software packages in preparation for statistical analysis 3. Collaborate with cancer researchers, statisticians/biostatisticians, and other investigators, providing analytical support 4. Assist with production of documentation and figures for presentations, manuscripts, and grant proposals; documentation manuals.
Position Qualifications:
EDUCATION Completion of a PhD in biostatistics, epidemiology, health services research, systems engineering, or related Public Health degree is required OR Masters degree and at least five years working in health services or outcomes research EXPERIENCE Required: Demonstrated knowledge of and experience in methods appropriate for analysis of health and health outcomes. Demonstrated skill and experience with advanced SAS programming including SAS Macro or SQL – applicants with no evidence of SAS experience in application materials will not be considered. Strong skills in biostatistic and epidemiologic methods including survival analysis, longitudinal data analysis, multi-level modeling, time-varying covariates and familiarity with pharmacoepidemiologic methods (propensity score analysis, instrumental variables), Bayesian models, missing data, censoring/truncation. Expertise in documenting research decisions, assumptions, and steps applied in study analysis. A history of good communication and collaborative/interpersonal skills, and proactive team orientation. Strongly preferred: Experience in cancer research and with analysis of registry, clinical trials and administrative claims data (e.g., Medicare); and management of large datasets (e.g., 250,000+ observations; 1000+ variables). Preferred: Experience with CART modeling, structural equation models, joinpoint regression, and proficiency in statistical packages such as R and Winbugs.
Salary Range:
Commensurate with experience
Benefits:
See http://hr.unc.edu/benefits/
Web Site:
http://iciss.unc.edu
Application Address:
Please apply online at http://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/23898 and provide cover letter, CV, and contact information for three (3) references. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an Equal Opportunity/ADA Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.
Contact Email:
Application Deadline:
05/23/2013
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