STATISTICAL SCIENTIST

School of Medicine

Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine is the youngest of the nation's top medical schools. Ranked sixth among medical schools in the nation, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe. Composed of more than 2,600 faculty physicians and researchers, nearly 2,000 students, and more than 6,200 staff, the Duke University School of Medicine along with the Duke University School of Nursing, and Duke University Health System comprise Duke Health, a world-class academic medical center. The Health System encompasses Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Health Integrated Practice, Duke Primary Care, Duke Home Care and Hospice, Duke Health and Wellness, and multiple affiliations.

Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics

Statistical Scientist

Occupational Summary

Under the leadership of the BERD Methods Core management team in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, perform advanced statistical analysis for a broad range of research projects. Lead a cross-functional project team, including clinical investigators, quantitative scientists, and graduate students, with regard to statistical aspects of each project. Perform a variety of advanced statistical and technical activities for the design, analysis, and interpretation of study data in conjunction with an academic research program based in one of the departments, centers or institutes of the University. Lead collaborative efforts to provide statistical support for projects coming through the BERD Core.

Responsibilities

communication, leadership, and project management (50%)

• Communicate consistently with confidence and proficiency, both verbally and in writing, to internal and external collaborators, colleagues, and functional group leadership
• Lead collaboration-wide meetings and discussions regarding key issues
• Develop solutions and strategies to address communication challenges among teams
• Identify issues that affect the functional group and help management determine plans for improvement in a professional manner
• Teach and evaluate abilities of junior biostatisticians to:
  • Clearly communicate statistical concepts in the context of research
  • Engage with the scientific questions being addressed in collaborations and clearly communicate statistical concepts in the context of the research
  • “Translate” ideas from clinical collaborators into statistical considerations
  • Describe study objectives, design, statistical methods and results
  • Perform and report on literature reviews for advanced statistical methodology
• Lead statistical collaborations to ensure projects are completed with high level of efficiency and produce high quality work without any faculty or statistical expert effort assigned
• Develop and manage new collaborations such as, submission of new grants that cover biostatistical effort, development of new internal or external collaborative agreements that cover biostatistical effort
• Serve as statistical advisor in lieu of faculty
• Oversee and support statistical scope, budget, assignments, effort, timeline and deliverables for several concurrent projects, or for complex projects with large statistical teams
• Effectively communicate needs for effort, prioritization, and career development with clinical leads in ongoing collaboration(s)
• Actively participate in decisions regarding interviewing and recruiting of new staff
• Building across various project experiences, disseminate knowledge and/or solutions within professional communities (e.g. leads drafting of responses to statistical, operational, or opinion documents such as manuscripts, draft regulatory guidelines, operational guidance documents)
• Serve effectively on Duke-wide committees, opportunity permitting

Statistical analysis planning: Specifications, Analysis, and REPORTING (10%)

• Act as an expert in writing statistical analysis plans and analysis data set specifications, including creation of tables, figures, and listing specification, and review content written by others
• Serve as a statistical advisor and reviewing statistician and lead the statistical team responsible for designing and validating analysis data sets, programs, and output products
• Independently write methods and analysis sections of reports/manuscripts
• Review and provide critical feedback on reports and manuscripts both within and outside of ongoing collaborations
• Implement and train others to find and follow institution guidelines, utilize good clinical research practice, and identify relevant regulatory requirements for agencies such as FDA, ICH, NIH, etc., and associated reporting requirements

statistical and clinical knowledge (30%)

• Demonstrate expertise in one or more statistical methodology areas, develop new areas of statistical and scientific expertise as necessary, and serve as a resource for junior biostatisticians, investigators, and quantitative methodologists
• Keep abreast of the novel advanced statistical modeling and computing tools in all areas of statistics, but particularly in the area of expertise
• Serve as co-investigator or lead statistician independently on grants as approved by the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Department
• Lead collaboration discussions with statistical rationale; identify any threat to research or statistical integrity
• Lead discussions on clinical methodology, outcomes, and implementation within collaborations and serve as a resource to the department in these clinical/domain areas
• Make presentations in professional meetings and publish as a first or senior author in peer-reviewed journals

data management and programming (10%)

• Have command of data sources, structures, and study designs frequently used in collaborations
• Be well-versed in data security requirements and institutional practices
• Act as an in-house expert to help less experienced statisticians enhance their programming skills and evaluate their abilities related to explaining different types of data, database descriptions, data security, and IRB requirements

Education

Position requires a minimum of a Doctoral degree in (bio) statistics or related field and 0-4 years relevant experience.

Experience

Prior role as a lead statistician on clinical trials and/or clinical research projects that have delivered the agreed-upon end products on time, prior guidance of lower level or less experienced staff, leadership experience in preparation of academic manuscripts or other written summaries of analysis results, thorough experience with SAS and R, and solid command of the English language is required.

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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.