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Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit
The Department of Epidemiology is one of the seven departments located in the Gillings School of Global Public Health. The department’s primary focus is to the development and application of research methods to understand the patterns and causes of health and disease, and the application of that knowledge to improving the health of populations. We provide strong training in research methods and opportunities for the application of epidemiology to a wide range of health problems through our research. The achievements of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni have enabled us to become one of the leading academic departments of epidemiology in the world. The department has 30 Tenured-Tenure Track / 7 Joint Tenure-Track Faculty, 25 Fixed Term / 3 Joint Fixed Term Faculty, 120 Adjuncts, 19 EHRA Non-Faculty, 15 Postdocs, 34 SHRA (Staff), 44 SHRA Temporary and 202 Students.The department’s operating budget is 27 million a year.
Position Summary
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Epidemiology is seeking an analyst who will contribute to the statistical aspects of multiple epidemiologic research projects. The current research seeks to understand relationships between neighborhood social stressors, epigenetic mechanisms, and adverse health outcomes. This multidisciplinary research aims to improve health among racial/ethnic minorities and eliminate health disparities.
This position is responsible for the management, quality control, and analysis of data across multiple projects. Data include multilevel (individual- and area-level), repeated, survey information, and biological markers (i.e., epigenetic, inflammation, blood pressure, height, and weight, etc.). The work will be conducted in both Unix/Linux and Windows environments. The analyst will develop, modify, and maintain statistical coding and Unix scripts (cshell; perl). Data analysis plans will be developed and modified in collaboration with the Principal Investigators and may include, but are not limited to, descriptive analyses, regression analyses, multilevel modeling, and structural equation modeling. The ability to work independently and to organize and adjust priorities appropriately as guided by the Principal Investigators will be critical for the success of this position.
Minimum Education and Experience Requirements
Master’s and 1-2 years’ experience; or Bachelors and 2-4 years’ experience; or will accept a combination of related education and experience in substitution.
Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience
This position requires the following:
- Minimum of two years’ work experience with SAS or R and modeling procedures in the Unix, Linux and Windows environments,
- Experience with multi-level data modeling (i.e., individual- and area-level measures), repeated measures, clustered data using random effects/hierarchical modeling, and data visualization,
- Skilled in epigenome-wide association analyses with robust linear regression, regional analyses, potentially mediation analyses,
- Experience constructing composite variables, merging data, and performing extensive quality control checks,
- Document pipelines to maintain datasets, programs, and associated annotation for future reproducibility,
- Communicate technical information efficiently to non-technical team members, and
- Familiarity with data security principles and working with PHI.
Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience
Experience in GIS analyses, spatial analyses and mapping of measures to areas, assessing spatial correlation and heterogeneity (i.e., Local Indicator of Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA), Moran’s I) is preferred, but not required.
Degree or background in biostatistics, statistics, computer science, bioinformatics, or other data science.
Special Physical/Mental Requirements
Typical physical demands of a professional position with a high amount of computer usage and screen time.
Campus Security Authority Responsibilities
Not Applicable.