Research Scientist (Fixed Term)

University of Washington Medical Center•Olympia, WA

6d•Remote

About The Position

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills, and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world. UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits, and natural beauty. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research organization at the University of Washington (UW). Its mission is to deliver to the world timely, relevant, and scientifically valid evidence to improve health policy and practice. IHME carries out its mission through a range of projects within different research areas including the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), Injuries, and Risk Factors; Future Health Scenarios; Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency; Resource Tracking; and Impact Evaluations. IHME has an excellent opportunity for a Temporary Research Scientist to join the Reproductive, Genitourinary and Digestive (RGUD) disease estimation team. IHME Research Scientists analyze and produce key estimates for their assigned research team, contribute to research design and training, and lead and/or mentor junior staff. We are looking for someone ready to advance in their career in global health research. You will assess all available relevant quantitative data, including individual-level and aggregated data from surveys, vital registration, censuses, cohort studies, registries, administrative records, government reports, and published scientific literature. You will lead the development and execution of analytic strategies, determining which strategies to test and how best to deploy statistical methods and coding techniques necessary for producing estimates, with emphasis on the long-term and intergenerational impacts of sexually transmitted infections (excluding HIV). You will be responsible for presenting results for internal critique, incorporating necessary feedback into updates and running models to formulate high-quality final deliverables. You will also lead the development of manuscripts, reports, presentations, and similar outputs. You will be integrally involved in producing, critiquing, improving, and disseminating results. You are someone who is capable of keeping your team on track to meet deadlines and research objectives. You already have a publication record, and at IHME, you will build out your portfolio with several peer-reviewed papers. You thrive in a collaborative work environment and are capable of working on multiple projects concurrently while meeting deadlines. You keep current of recent scientific, engineering, and technical advances and are able to translate these into your research. This position is contingent upon project funding.

Requirements

Master’s degree in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, quantitative social sciences, or related discipline plus four years' related experience. Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.
Demonstrated understanding of the common measurement methods and study designs employed in analytic observational epidemiology, their biases and limitations, and available approaches to adjust measurements to support valid causal inference.
Growing peer network where sought out as having solid command of engineering/technical areas, a given disease, risk, key indicator, relevant methodological area, and the related data sources and scientific underpinnings.
Excellent analytic, critical thinking, and quantitative skills.
Results- and detail-oriented individual who can initiate and complete tasks under tight deadlines and changing priorities both independently and in a team environment.
Flexibility with hours and workload is key.
Experience devising and executing statistical modeling techniques.
Demonstrated ability to quickly recognize problems in results and identify root causes in data, methods, and code.
Ease in designing, executing, and troubleshooting code in R or Python.
Excellent written and oral communication skills required, including track record of success in coauthorship on multiple scientific papers, presenting results, and representing research at meetings.
Demonstrated ability to contribute to and sustain collaborations with external research teams.
Experience in working with large data sets, including devising strategies for reliable data management for large data sets, computationally efficient modeling techniques to use such data sets, and critical evaluation of highly multidimensional model outputs that result from such work.
Experience with meta-regression, preferably using Burden of Proof or other published methodology employed to estimate causal relationships from diverse datasources.
Ability to work both independently and in collaboration with a team.
A long-term interest in a research scientist position contributing to the overall mission of our research.

Nice To Haves

MD or PhD in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, or quantitative social sciences plus two years’ experience preferred.
Experience with machine learning, data mining, and analytic techniques.
Experience mentoring and developing junior employees on soft and technical skills.
Experience with project management methods.
Peer-reviewed publication record.

Responsibilities

Exhibit command of the team's research areas, including the methodology and its components.
Independently carry out quantitative analyses and participate in reciprocal research projects.
Interpret and vet results from junior staff, formulate conclusions, and inform team leaders.
Develop, quality check, and distribute complex datasets to be used in epidemiological and statistical analyses.
Develop and implement new computational and statistical methods.
Write, test, and maintain code in Python or R, with a willingness to learn and adapt to additional programming languages as needed.
Maintain, modify, and execute analytic machinery that generates results.
Assist in drafting presentations and manuscripts, and contribute to the preparation of funding proposals.
Lead and co-author scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Maintain scientific awareness and intellectual agility with data, methods, and analytic techniques.
May lead and/or mentor junior staff.
Contribute ideas and content for internal and external training materials to enhance understanding and effective use of IHME tools and data.
May participate in teaching established trainings.
Contribute to research design.
Other duties as assigned that fall within reasonable scope of research team.