Research Scientist 1 or Research Scientist 2 (Epidemiology) - 22015

at  Health Department of

Research Scientist 1 (Epidemiology), Grade 18: Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Public Health, Epidemiology, Infection Control, Statistics/Biostatistics, Biomedical Science, Environmental Health, Environmental Science, or a related degree and two years of post-degree professional research experience in the appropriate field; OR a master’s degree in one of the above fields and one year of post-degree professional research experience in the appropriate field.
Research Scientist 2 (Epidemiology) , Grade 22: Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Public Health, Epidemiology, Infection Control, Statistics/Biostatistics, Biomedical Science, Environmental Health, Environmental Science, or a related degree and three years of post-degree professional research experience in the appropriate field; OR a master’s degree in one of the above field and two years of post-degree professional research experience in the appropriate field; OR a doctoral degree in one of the above fields.
Related degrees may include Medical Anthropology, Psychology, Nutrition, Nursing, Pharmacology, Mathematics, Education, Medical Geography, Sociology, Economics, or other relevant Social Science, or Natural Sciences.
Preferred Qualifications: Preferred candidates will have experience in the development and management of a large database that is used to support public health surveillance systems. They will also have knowledge of principles and methods of public health surveillance; and experience in applying the standard criteria for evaluating the effectiveness and usefulness of public health surveillance systems is desired. The incumbent will also be able to link public health program knowledge to conceptual modeling, statistical analysis, and the interpretation of results; demonstrate analytic, critical thinking, and scientific writing skills; present surveillance and research results to technical and non-technical audiences; and utilize Statistical Analysis System (SAS) programming, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word proficiently. The preferred candidate will also experience in spatial analysis using ArcView or other publicly available software.

The Research Scientist (RS) 1 will support the Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System (PedNSS) in the Division of Nutrition using customized datamarts (or extracts) from the new Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) friendly Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) management information system (NYWIC). The RS 1 will assist senior Research Scientists with conducting data quality checks to assess the reliability and validity of data extracted from the NYWIC system. The incumbent will contribute to the design, testing and validation of longitudinal SAS datasets that will be used to generate monthly and annual summary statistics for WIC indicators at the state, county, and WIC local agency (LA) levels using existing templates and protocols. The RS 1 will summarize statistics for priority indicators and prepare statistical reports that will be disseminated within the NYS WIC Program as well as through the DOH public website, Open Data NY and NYS Prevention Agenda dashboards, and the Maternal Child Health Block Grant progress reports. The incumbent will work as part of a team and conduct evaluation studies and statistical analyses that address emerging data needs in the NYS WIC Program and contribute to efforts to disseminate results using scientific manuscripts, written reports, and oral presentations to reach both professional and lay audiences. They will also perform other duties as needed, including the review of external research study protocols, coordinating external data requests, and supporting program outreach efforts through the conduct of statewide and local-level comparisons of WIC certification data with enrollment data from other means-tested (adjunctive eligibility) programs such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Research Scientist (RS) 2 will support the Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System (PedNSS) in the Division of Nutrition using customized datamarts (or extracts) from the new Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) friendly Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) management information system (NYWIC). Under the direction of a Senior Research Scientist, the RS 2 will contribute to the implementation of analysis plans for assessing the reliability and validity of data extracted from the NYWIC system. The incumbent will contribute to the design, testing and validation of longitudinal SAS datasets that will be used to generate monthly and annual summary statistics for WIC indicators at the state, county, and WIC local agency (LA) levels. The RS 2 will summarize statistics for priority indicators and prepare statistical reports that will be disseminated within the NYS WIC Program as well as through the DOH public website, Open Data NY and NYS Prevention Agenda dashboards, and the Maternal Child Health Block Grant progress reports. The incumbent will work as part of a team and conduct evaluation studies and statistical analyses that address emerging data needs in the NYS WIC Program and contribute to efforts to disseminate results using scientific manuscripts, written reports, and oral presentations to reach both professional and lay audiences. They will also perform other duties as needed, including the review of external research study protocols, coordinating external data