BIOSTATISTICIAN II - Department of Medicine

Duke University:

Duke University was created in 1924 through an indenture of trust by James Buchanan Duke. Today, Duke is regarded as one of America’s leading research universities. Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is positioned in the heart of the Research Triangle, which is ranked annually as one of the best places in the country to work and live. Duke has more than 15,000 students who study and conduct research in its 10 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. With about 40,000 employees, Duke is the third largest private employer in North Carolina, and it now has international programs in more than 150 countries.

Grant/sponsor funded [50% or more external]

Occupational Summary

As a member of the bioinformatics and clinical analytics team (BioCAT), housed within the Department of Medicine at Duke University, you will be part of a team of faculty and staff biostatisticians, bioinformaticians, and data scientists with diverse experience in ‘Omic data analysis, statistical modeling, biomarker discovery, and predictive analytics. This team works collaboratively with researchers, physician scientists, and quantitative scientists across the Duke Department of Medicine to meet the analytical challenges of their research, ranging from basic science through clinical trials and epidemiological studies. This research is also diverse in complexity from single data set epidemiological studies to multi-omic statistical learning of human response to different exposures. In all cases, we aim to establish and maintain working relationships with our research partners, learn about their research needs, tailor a data processing and analysis plan to meet their unique needs, implement and execute the bioinformatic and statistical needs of the project, and present the findings to the investigators.

Work Preformed

Execute the statistical needs of assigned projects with guidance from senior team members

• Program, execute, and report all analyses within project scope
  • Datasets may include high-dimensional genomic and clinical datasets, including bulk/single-cell sequencing data (RNA, ATAC, etc.), microarray data, proteomics data, multiplex PCR data or other complex "omic" datasets.
  • Analyses may include data normalization, clustering, testing for differential expression, principal components analysis, generalized linear model development, feature and model selection, and functional enrichment and pathway association analyses
• Summarize results in tables and figures

Support Dissemination

• Assist with drafting abstracts and manuscripts, contributing methods sections and integrate the analytical results which guidance.
• Compose slides for informal and formal presentations and/or support poster development

Active engagement in project teams

• Participate in required meetings, as indicated by the project manager or Investigator
• Present research results to study teams and lead discussion
• Respond to study team, mentors, and external feedback

Evolve with the field

• Review literature for relevant software tools and statistical approaches

• Embrace learning-by-doing of new technologies and new methods to analyze different data types
• Be willing to learn new programming languages, computational environments (e.g., clusters, AWS, Azure, etc.) as needed

Regulatory, data security, and reproducibility

• Remain abreast of current regulatory standards governing job-related activities
• Follow good programming and analysis practices that ensure reproducibility (e.g., git, r markdown, etc.)
• Adhere to standard operating procedures, regulations, and other requirements that govern statistics and research        

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Master’s degree or equivalent in statistics, biostatistics, bioinformatics, computational biology, data science or related field.

Experience: Prior contribution to analysis of research projects, fluency in either R or Python, experienced with command line interfaces (e.g., bash), and prior use of high performance computing clusters.

Experience with the processing or analysis of high-dimensional clinical and/or molecular data is preferred.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.