ABOUT US

Serving a diverse urban and rural population of more than 430,000, Niagara Region is focused on building a strong and prosperous Niagara. Working collaboratively with 12 local area municipalities and numerous community partners, the Region delivers a range of high quality programs and services to support and advance the well-being of individuals, families and communities within its boundaries. Nestled between the great lakes of Erie and Ontario, the Niagara peninsula features some of Canada’s most fertile agricultural land, the majesty of Niagara Falls and communities that are rich in both history and recreational and cultural opportunities. Niagara boasts dynamic modern cities, Canada’s most developed wine industry, a temperate climate, extraordinary theatre, and some of Ontario’s most breathtaking countryside. An international destination with easy access to its binational U.S. neighbour New York State, Niagara attracts over 14 million visitors annually, as well as a steady stream of new residents and businesses.

JOB SUMMARY

Reporting to the Manager of Surveillance and Evaluation, the Epidemiologist is responsible for providing expertise in surveillance, health assessment, research design and methods, outbreak management; and the planning, coordination, implementation, and evaluation of Health Department projects and programs.

EDUCATION

• Post-secondary degree in Health related discipline.
• A Masters of Science degree in Epidemiology.
• Knowledge of biostatistics as determined by undertaking relevant undergraduate or preferably post graduate courses or equivalent certification preferred.

KNOWLEDGE

• At least 3 years experience working in a community-based epidemiology role, preferably within a Health Department.
• Demonstrated strong analytical skills and experience in the use of a variety of software utilized in the analyses of data (eg STATA, SPSS, SAS, Excel)
• Knowledge and experience of program/project evaluation.
• Knowledge and experience of using Public Health Reporting Systems (i.e. iPHIS, ISCIS, CCHS, INtellHealth, StatsCan)
• Knowledge of local, provincial and national public health systems.
• Knowledge and experience in data acquisition, coordination, analysis, interpretation and management.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

• Emergency Management Clause for IMS scenarios
• Regional staff strive to enable the strategic priorities of council and the organization through the completion of their work. Staff carry out their work by demonstrating the corporate values of service, honesty, choice, partnership and respect.

In collaboration with the Manager of Surveillance and Evaluation, plans, organizes and coordinates studies on the health status of residents of Niagara Region.

• Analyzes mortality, natality, morbidity, and risk related statistics using appropriate epidemiologic techniques.
• Evaluates the effectiveness, acceptability and availability of programs and projects in the Health Department.
• Writes reports and prepares information documents and other forms of communication (eg. infographics, journal articles/abstracts/presentations etc) as requested by the Manager of Surveillance and Evaluation.
• Plans and organizes new methods for obtaining additional health data and for improving the reliability and validity of health data already being collected by the Department - e.g. community surveys.
• Develops valid useful criteria for defining and prioritizing health needs and public health programs.

Provides consultative services to the Regional Government in the areas of surveillance, population health assessment, evaluation, research design and biostatistics.

• Provides consultation for the Health Department, community physicians, community health agencies and others concerning the natural history and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Synthesize information from a variety of health monitoring databases (e.g. RODs, iPHIS, ACES) for the early recognition of any suspicious clustering of events and for the analysis of disease patterns to facilitate resource allocation, and for the study of hypotheses on the health of the community.

• Maintains statistics and relevant files about epidemiologic and evaluation issues.
• Outbreak management
• Utilizes appropriate computer programs for the statistical analysis of data.
• Knowledge Translation; translates complex information into a variety of formats intended for a variety of lay and professional audiences.

Provides functional expertise and guidance, keeping abreast of current issues and state-of-the-art methodologies in epidemiology and on environmental issues and factors that may contribute to ill health in the community.

• Educates staff about research methodology, questionnaire design, data collection, interpretation of epidemiologic studies and program evaluation.
• Addresses Regional Government, health professionals, community groups, etc. about relevant epidemiologic subjects - e.g. epidemics, cancer causation, drinking water and health, etc.
• May supervise students, trainees or outside researchers.