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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style>*Position
Title*: <b> Principal Research Associate</b></span></p>
<p><br>
*Level*: Grade 15<br>
<br>
*Salary*: $79,232<br>
<br>
*Center/Institute*: Institute for Infectious Disease Research<br>
<br>
*Project*: The Community Vulnerability and Response to PWID-related HIV<br>
(CVAR) & Metropolitan Trajectories of HIV Epidemics & Responses in US
Key<br>
Populations (MetroEpi)<br>
<br>
*Location*: 71 West 23rd Street, NY, NY<br>
<br>
*APPLY TO*: Barbara Tempalski, PhD, MPH at <a href="mailto:tempalski@ndri.org">tempalski@ndri.org</a><br>
<br>
The CVAR project has been a major intellectual contributor to our<br>
understanding of how macro-level policy, social, demographic and economic<br>
forces shape the HIV epidemic and related services among people who inject<br>
drugs (PWID) in the United States. This is a longitudinal study of 96 US<br>
metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) investigating the determinants of<br>
changes in: 1) numbers PWID; 2) HIV prevalence and AIDS-related mortality<br>
within the PWID; 3) syringe exchange, drug abuse treatment and other<br>
services; and 4) racial/ethnic and gender disparities in these indicators.<br>
<br>
Much like CVAR, the Metropolitan Trajectories of HIV Epidemics & Responses<br>
in US Key Populations project is a study of how epidemiologic,<br>
programmatic, and policy factors are associated with US HIV/AIDS epidemics<br>
and whether and how programs affect one another across three key<br>
populations (KPs)—MSM, PWID, and heterosexuals. This longitudinal cohort<br>
study of 96 MSAs will: 1) create MSA-level annual estimates of HIV/AIDS<br>
epidemic outcomes for each KP and KP subgroup (defined by race/ethnicity,<br>
age, and, for heterosexuals and PWID, gender), and of HIV/AIDS- related<br>
program presence and coverage for these KPs and KP subgroups. It will also<br>
describe how these epidemiologic and program variables vary across time and<br>
MSAs. Using these epidemiologic and programmatic estimates, it will 2)<br>
determine if and how HIV/AIDS epidemics in one KP affect and are affected<br>
by epidemics in other KPs, both overall and across KP subgroups; and 3)<br>
discover determinants of the presence and coverage of HIV/AIDS-related<br>
program presence and coverage for each KP and KP subgroup.<br>
<br>
*MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:*<br>
<br>
· Assist at creating MSA-level annual estimates of key variables for each<br>
KP and KP subgroup (defined by race/ethnicity, age, and, for heterosexuals<br>
and PWID, gender) using a variety of standard regression-based techniques.<br>
<br>
· Conduct analyses including longitudinal data analysis, multilevel<br>
modeling, as well as standard regression-based methods.<br>
<br>
· Formulation of research questions, hypotheses, theories, or models for<br>
empirical testing using existing data sets.<br>
<br>
· Study assesses MSA-level dynamics and often relies on aggregated<br>
county-level data or on other population-level data that must be aggregated<br>
and analyzed. Essential data tasks include:<br>
<br>
· Identify secondary data from sources like the US Census, the Centers<br>
for Disease Control, and other sources of economic, social, political,<br>
criminal justice, and population-level health data.<br>
<br>
· Integrate data collected at various levels of analysis into datasets at<br>
the MSA-level.<br>
<br>
· Process and integrate diverse data and think creatively about new<br>
sources of potential data.<br>
<br>
· Must be cognizant of changes in data collection as well as MSA-level<br>
boundaries over time and how these may affect the data.<br>
<br>
· Quality control: Analyze data quality and integrity using SAS including<br>
running basic statistics. Identify data quality problems and potential<br>
problems. Solve these problems.<br>
<br>
· Update and maintain project meta-data files. These documents track and<br>
describe the characteristics of the data, stages of data processing, and<br>
variable definitions.<br>
<br>
· Communicate with project team concerning data-related issues.<br>
<br>
· Write and contribute to:<br>
<br>
· Scientific papers<br>
<br>
· Professional presentations<br>
<br>
· Grant proposals<br>
<br>
· Project reports<br>
<br>
• Perform other related tasks as required<br>
<br>
*REQUIREMENTS:*<br>
<br>
Education/Experience: A doctorate in sociology, geography, population<br>
studies, or other social science OR in a health related discipline, plus<br>
one year+ of relevant experience working with large secondary data sets and<br>
advanced statistics; or ABD and three years of relevant experience; or a<br>
masters degree and five years of combined experience in data<br>
management/data processing.<br>
<br>
Proficiency in statistical software and programming language such as SAS<br>
and SPSS. Experience with R is a plus.<br>
<br>
*Other Qualifications: *<br>
<br>
· A strong statistical background is essential for this position.<br>
<br>
· Ability to think about health-related issues at the metropolitan area<br>
level of analysis.<br>
<br>
· Knowledge and/or interest in HIV/AIDS epidemiology, key populations,<br>
and health services research.<br>
<br>
· Working knowledge of geographic entities relating to metropolitan and<br>
micropolitan statistical areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management<br>
and Budget (OMB)<br>
<br>
· Working knowledge of national datasets related to HIV and/or drug use<br>
research (US Census Housing and Population data, CDC AIDS case and HIV<br>
Counseling and Testing Services data, Treatment Episode Data Set, Uniform<br>
Crime Reports).<br>
<br>
· Willingness to take responsibility in a team context, and learn new<br>
skills.<br>
<br>
· Ability to oversee a complex dataset with careful attention to detail<br>
and data quality.<br>
<br>
· Ability to effectively communicate both orally and in writing about<br>
data and analysis issues.<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Samuel R Friedman<br>
Director, Institute of Infectious Disease Research,<br>
National Development and Research Institutes<br>
71 West 23d Street, 4th floor<br>
New York, NY 10010<br>
USA<br>
1 212 845 4467<br>
Fax 1 917 438 0894<br>
<a href="mailto:friedman@ndri.org">friedman@ndri.org</a> </p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Leora Lawton PhD<br>Executive Director<br>Berkeley Population Center<br>350K Barrows Hall<br>(of) 510-643-1270<br>(m) 510-928-7572<br><a href="http://www.popcenter.berkeley.edu" target="_blank">www.popcenter.berkeley.edu</a><br>
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