Research Fellow - Statistics - Institute of Applied Health Research

Position Details

• Institute of Applied Health Research
• Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
• Full time starting salary is normally in the range £30,942 to £40,322, with potential progression once in post to £42,792
• Grade 7
• Full-Time FTC up to 31 May 2023

Background

• The post holder will conduct statistical and methodological research on a variety of projects, mainly the NIHR funded project Athena-M evaluating mammography for breast cancer screening. Our group's research programme addresses a wide and interesting range of medical problems of practical relevance to patients, carers and health care providers.
• The post holder will work alongside a number of statisticians supporting research within the Test Evaluation Research Group (TERG) and the Biostatistics Team.
• The post holder will also contribute to the Research Design Service (RDS) by providing statistical consultation to clinicians and researchers.
• The post holder will deliver statistics teaching sessions and develop teaching materials. Statisticians are encouraged to take an interest in the medical areas, and understand the clinical issues and problems relating to the disease areas in which they work. This enables them to contribute to disease-specific research at a national and international level.

Job Summary

The post-holder will be part of the Biostatistics, Evidence Synthesis and Test Evaluation (BESATE) Group within the Institute of Applied Health Research (IAHR). The Test Evaluation Research Group (TERG) within BESATE is internationally renowned for its expertise in evaluating medical tests, providing statistical expertise in the design and analysis of applied health research projects and developing methodology.

TERG leads the Diagnostics and Biomarkers theme within the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) whose three key clinical areas are inflammatory arthritis, inflammatory gastroenterology and inflammatory sarcopenia. TERG works with these research themes within the BRC to develop, design and deliver portfolios of test research studies, and to advance the methodology behind early evaluative studies.

The post-holder will be part of the statistical team, providing support for NIHR funded studies and research projects related to test evaluation, as well as relevant BRC projects and consultancy for the NIHR Research Design Service (RDS). In addition, the post-holder will have opportunities to contribute to the basic teaching activities of the Biostatistics Team within BESATE.

Main Duties

• Collaboration with the lead statistician for the projects, clinical collaborators, members of the study team, other health care professionals and other researchers.
• Statistical analysis of study data, including preparation of statistical reports suitable for publication.
• Provide statistical advice for the design of research projects including diagnostic and test evaluation studies, under the mentorship of a senior member of TERG.
• Provide statistical consultancy to researchers and clinicians to support the activities of the RDS.
• Contribute to scientific peer-reviewed publications, grant applications, study protocols and development of data collection forms, under the mentorship of a senior member of TERG.
• Liaise with programmers and study coordinators in the development and testing of data management systems.
• Determine appropriate statistical analysis for data including writing statistical analysis plans, under the mentorship of a senior member of TERG.
• When working on primary studies, to provide statistical analysis to assist study coordinators in the running of studies, and monitor data quality of on-going studies.
• Undertake appropriate statistical analysis of study data and prepare reports for independent oversight committees, and contribute to presentations and publications, under the mentorship of a senior member of TERG.
• Contribute to different types of systematic reviews in the BESATE Group.
• Provide statistical advice and/or analysis of data as part of TERG's support and advice service.
• Provide teaching support (small group teaching sessions, lectures and computer practicals) on basic statistics and study design methodology and contribute to in-house staff training.
• Contribute to CPD courses delivered by the BESATE team.
• Disseminate results of methodological and clinical projects via research publications, presentations, conference posters and presentations and dissemination events.
• Carry out statistical methodological research relevant to research studies being undertaken.
• Support the delivery of clinical research in accordance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP), the Declaration of Helsinki, applicable legislation (including, but not limited to, the Medicines for Human Use Clinical Trials Regulations, Data Protection Act 1998, Human Tissue Act), the Research Governance Framework for Health and Social Care, Caldicott principles, and applicable NHS Trust and University policies and procedures, (including, but not limited to the University's Data Protection Policy, Information Security Policy and Code of Practice for Research) in order to protect the research subject and the quality of each study.
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines.

Person Specification

• Graduate in a numerate-related subject.
• MSc or PhD (or near to completion) in Statistics OR a relevant higher degree.
• Knowledge of medical statistics, clinical trials, diagnostic and test evaluation studies.
• Experience in applying statistical techniques e.g. logistic and Cox regression, analysis of variance, repeated measures.
• Skills in statistical programming including STATA, R, and using large datasets.
• Experience in computer-based database management and data extraction/ reporting techniques.
• Experience in providing statistical consultancy to non-statisticians and ability to impart statistical concepts to non-statisticians.
• Ability to interpret results of complex analyses for a non-specialist and non-statistical audience.
• Experience in presenting statistical results and/or methods.
• Experience in teaching statistical concepts, and enthusiasm for delivering teaching and developing teaching materials.
• Ability to work well both on own initiative and as part of a team.
• Evidence of good interpersonal and excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Informal enquiries to Dr. Alice Sitch - a.j.sitch@bham.ac.uk

Further particulars can be found here

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