Public Health Research Analyst

Becker Friedman Institute of Economics at the University of Chicago; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Becker Friedman Institute of Economics at the University of Chicago seeks a Public Health Research Analyst to ensure meticulous data quality for research projects evaluating statewide health initiatives. You will retrieve data from clinical/research databases, implement QA checks, and produce reports for internal and external partners.

The role supports development of abstracts, posters, and manuscripts, with collaboration across PIs and multidisciplinary teams.

Qualifications

• Education: college/university degree in related field.
• Less than 2 years of work experience in related discipline.

Responsibilities

• Perform data quality tasks for research projects.
• Develop and implement data quality checks and QA reports.
• Prepare analytic datasets and descriptive statistics.
• Maintain code library and documentation.
• Support development of abstracts, posters, and manuscripts.
• Collaborate with PIs and staff across projects.

Skills

Data quality

Statistical analysis

Research coordination

Data visualization

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Public health or data science background

Tools

REDCap

SAS

Stata

R

Job description

Department

BSD MED - General Internal Medicine - Chin Research Staff

About the Department

The University of Chicago’s Section for General Internal Medicine (GIM) houses many outstanding multidisciplinary academic centers and programs. Under limited direction the Public Health Research Analyst will perform complex research-related and data quality tasks regarding the evaluation of the California Safety-Net Population Health Management Initiative (PHMI). PHMI is a comprehensive healthcare strategy aimed at improving the overall health outcomes of Medi-Cal beneficiaries in the State of California. Launched as part of broader healthcare transformation efforts, the initiative focuses on proactive health management and enhancing population health management capacities by addressing social determinants, preventive care, and chronic disease management. Through care coordination, data analytics, and community engagement, the goal of PHMI is to enhance equitable delivery of healthcare services, reduce costs, and create a more integrated and patient-centered approach to managing the health of California’s diverse population. The role of the University of Chicago is in the evaluation of this initiative through a multi-year, mixed methods analysis around the implementation process of PHMI and the achievement of its intended goals. As time allows, this position will support various health services and public health-related research projects led by clinical investigators across the Section for GIM.

Job Summary

We are seeking a Public Health Research Analyst to join our team! The Public Health Research Analyst is responsible for meticulous and accurate data quality for research project data. This includes retrieval of all patient/client or participant data from clinical and research databases. This role will also be responsible for developing and implementing regular data quality and assurance checks to ensure high quality data, as well as production of reports for internal and external partners to monitor project progress. This position will assist with the development of abstracts, posters, and presentations for local and national conferences, manuscripts, and other research and service outputs.

Responsibilities

• Maintains a close, collaborative working relationship with the PIs, the administrative team, and research staff within the Section/Project(s) to effectively manage research studies.

• Responsible for all data quality aspects of research studies.

• Performs quality assurance audits (QA) as needed, as well as QA summary reports for staff (internally) and stakeholders (externally) in a timely, accurate manner.

• Provides data quality and data collection recommendations (including recommending data collection tools) to staff to improve data integrity.

• Conductingdatachecks,datacleaningandvariablecreationto ensure data quality and integrity and to prepare data sets foranalysis.

• Collaboratingwithexternal researchandimplementationpartnerstoimplement datacollectionprotocols.

• Oversees the general maintenance of our data collection tools (i.e., REDCap, etc.), as well as develop any new programs and/or projects within these systems.

• Developingandimplementingprotocolsto streamline and standardize data collection, storage, and processing across studiesand datasets.

• Prepares analytic datasets for research recruitment, analyses, and data abstractions and preliminary descriptive statistics.

• Maintaining code library and documentation.

• Provides professional support to staff or faculty members in defining the project and applying principals of data science in manipulation, statistical applications, programming, analysis and modeling.

• Responsible for generating documentation for projects, e.g. procedural manuals, protocol worksheets, codebooks, questionnaires, progress reports, addendums, and/or adverse event reports.

• Facilitates the execution of data usage agreements (DUA) and/or data quality plans to share data to internal and external partners/institutions.

• Demonstrates proficiency in the use of clinical and research-related computer programs.

• Attends multidisciplinary conferences and workshops.

• Analyzes moderately complex data sets for the purpose of extracting and purposefully using applicable information.

• Maintains technical and administrative support for a research project.

• Analyzes and maintains data and/or specimens. Conducts literature reviews. Assists with preparation of reports, manuscripts and other documents.

• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
• Work Experience: Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through < 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degreein the social sciences, data science, public policy, public health, or similar field.
• Experience: Experience maintaining and documenting source code for reproducibility of research and service projects.
• Experience: Background in biostatistics within clinical or public health research settings.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Proficiency with one or more statistical analysis software packages, such as SAS, Stata, or R for data quality assurance and statistical analysis.
• Proficiency with Microsoft applications, including but not limited to Outlook, Excel, Access, and Word.

Preferred Competencies

• Attention to detail and excellent organizational skills.
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously, set priorities independently, and meet deadlines.
• Ability to adhere to protocols for maintaining confidentiality of protected health information, and work with sensitive information.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Demonstrated written and verbal communication skills, including ability to communicate data quality processes to faculty and staff audience.
• Flexibility, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to collaborate with colleagues from diverse academic and professional background.

Application Documents

• Resume (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

Job Family

Research

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

Pay Range

$50,000.00 - $70,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University’s Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

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