Research Associate

The mission of the Center for Biostatistics and Health Data Science (CBHDS) is to achieve excellence in Virginia Tech’s health- and medically-related research portfolio through fostering collaborations across biostatistics, data science, health analytics, computer science, engineering, bioinformatics, biology, database management and integration, project coordination, clinical practice, health economics, translation and public policy. To achieve this mission, CBHDS seeks to:

Identify, integrate and coordinate expertise and resources pertinent to the areas of biostatistics, statistics, health analytics, data science, epidemiology, data management, informatics, health economics, etc to provide a central support hub for health- and medically-related research. Promote the use and awareness of appropriate contemporary analytic methods in health- and medically-related research projects. Provide training and mentorship to statisticians, analysts, and data scientists relative to communication and collaboration with biomedical and health researchers. Through effective interdisciplinary collaboration, gain an understanding of disease etiologies, adopt effective treatment and prevention strategies, and positively impact mental and physical health and quality of life.

Additional information can be found on our Center’s website: https://biostat.centers.vt.edu/.

Our work is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary, so the selected candidate will have opportunities to engage with Virginia Tech researchers across various organizations. In Roanoke, many of our collaborators specialize in addiction, mental health, and neuroscience, and thus the ideal candidate would have experience and interest in this area of health science research.

Under the mentorship of a senior statistician, the selected candidate will write statistical methods and power analysis sections for grant proposals; generate statistical analyses to support interdisciplinary research; engage in sophisticated data wrangling, including claims and electronic health records (EHR) data; conduct appropriate statistical analyses using statistical languages (R, SAS), including summarizing and disseminating analytic findings. He or she will lead and mentor research assistants in tasks involving statistical programming, data management, and the application of statistical methods, conduct research and apply novel analytic and statistical methods as appropriate, and write and edit statistical methods sections for abstract and manuscript submissions.

In summary, key responsibilities for the Research Associate include:
• Collaborating with investigators to design clinical studies in the health sciences
• Writing statistical methods and power analysis sections for clinical protocols and grant proposals
• Generating statistical analyses to support interdisciplinary research
• Engaging in sophisticated data wrangling, including claims data and electronic health records
• Conducting appropriate statistical analyses using statistical languages (R, SAS), including summarizing and disseminating analytic findings
• Assisting with the mentorship of research assistants in tasks involving statistical programming, data management, and the application of statistical methods.
Conducting research and applying novel analytic and statistical methods as appropriate.
Writing and editing statistical methods sections for abstract and manuscript submissions.