Research Scientist, Health Systems

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty. 

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research center at the University of Washington. Its mission is to deliver to the world timely, relevant, and scientifically valid evidence to improve health policy and practice. IHME carries out its mission through a range of projects within different research areas including the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors; Future Health Scenarios; Costs and Cost Effectiveness; Resource Tracking; and Impact Evaluations. Our vision is to provide policymakers, donors, and researchers with the highest-quality quantitative evidence base so all people live long lives in full health.

IHME is committed to providing the evidence base necessary to help solve the world’s most important health problems. This requires creativity and innovation, which are cultivated by an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment that respects and appreciates differences, embraces collaboration, and invites the voices of all IHME team members.

IHME has an outstanding opportunity for a Research Scientist to join the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Health Systems team.

We are looking for someone who will help drive health systems research, with a focus on innovation in the area of universal health coverage (UHC), including aspects of quality, equity, and service coverage. Across IHME, Research Scientists lead on research teams by contributing to research design and training and mentoring junior staff. IHME Research Scientists analyze and produce key estimates for their research team and focus on using data from household surveys, disease registries, vital registration, published literature, and administrative records. Research Scientists are further involved in critiquing, improving, and disseminating results. Research Scientists must be capable of helping keep their team on track to meet deadlines and research objectives. Research Scientists should have experience with the publication process, and, at IHME, are expected to build out their portfolio with several peer-reviewed papers. We are looking for individuals who keep abreast of recent scientific, engineering, and technical advances and are able to translate these into research.

The main purpose of this position is to engage in research on the GBD Health Systems team with a focus on UHC and the quality and service coverage aspects of UHC, working closely with the Health Systems team lead, other Health Systems faculty, Data Analysts, Project Officer, and other team members. Research on UHC on the Health Systems team entails estimating the UHC effective service coverage index nationally for 204 countries and territories, and for some geographies at a more local level; estimating service coverage and effective service coverage for an array of service areas, such as promotion, prevention, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care; considering how the quality and access components of UHC can be integrated into the UHC effective service coverage index; and related research areas. The Research Scientist will also be involved with work on the Health Systems team evaluating the impact of health systems interventions on equity, including in the US. You will be integrally involved in producing, critiquing, improving, and disseminating results. You already have a command of analysis of service coverage, quality, and equity, and health systems performance concepts, but also have experience in epidemiology, statistics, disease modeling, or related interests. Our Research Scientists work with senior research leads and external collaborators and take part in the intellectual exchange about how to improve upon and disseminate the results.

You are expected to interact successfully with a wide range of partners and to describe complex concepts and materials concisely. Overall, Research Scientists are critical members of agile, dynamic research teams. This position is contingent on project funding availability.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Exhibit command of service coverage, effective service coverage, quality, and index construction methodologies to produce indicators and, when necessary, develop new methodologies to produce estimates of related metrics.
• Exhibit command of important theories and concepts in health systems performance, including UHC, primary health care, health systems frameworks, quality, access, and other areas.  
• Exhibit command of analysis of health systems interventions that impact equity, including with quasi-experimental methods such as difference-in-difference, interrupted time series, regression discontinuity, etc. 
• Capable of manipulating, exploring, combining, and assessing modeled outputs from the GBD study and other large modeling enterprises, large survey datasets, administrative data, and other data for analysis of health system performance. 
• Independently carry out quantitative analyses, including statistical modeling to produce results designated on a given timeline as part of collaborative research projects. Interpret and vet results from junior staff, formulate conclusions, provide feedback, and inform team leaders. 
• May lead and/or mentor junior staff.
• Develop, quality check, and distribute complex datasets to be used in epidemiological and statistical analyses.
• Develop and implement new computational and statistical methods. Create, test, and use relevant computer code in R or Python. Maintain, modify, and execute analytic machinery.
• Contribute to research design.
• Review and assess existing research on similar topics.
• Draft presentations and manuscripts and contribute to funding proposals. Lead and co-author scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
• Maintain scientific awareness and intellectual agility with data, methods, and analytic techniques, with a special focus on health systems performance research.
• Provide ideas and content for the development of internal trainings. Teach established trainings.
• Other duties as assigned that fall within reasonable scope of research team.
• Consult with external collaborators and key stakeholders to resolve differences in competing sets of estimates, jointly understand and explain analytic approaches, and review and respond to recommendations for analytic modifications, new data, and ways of representing the results.
• Apply computational and statistical tools and algorithms for the preprocessing, analysis, and visualization of source data.
• Lead discussion in research meetings about results and analyses to vet, improve, and finalize results.  

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Master’s degree in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, quantitative social sciences, or related discipline plus 4 years’ related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Proven interest and experience in health systems research, specifically in the areas of quality, equity, access to care, and universal health coverage, and the related data sources and scientific underpinnings.
• Experience constructing indices capturing aspects of health system performance, such as quality, access, or service coverage.
• Experience using quasi-experimental methods for evaluating health system interventions (e.g., difference-in-difference, interrupted time series, regression discontinuity, etc.).
• Excellent analytic, critical thinking, and quantitative skills.
• Results- and detail-oriented individual who can initiate and complete tasks under tight deadlines and changing priorities both independently and in a team environment. Flexibility with hours and workload is key.
• Experience devising and executing statistical modeling techniques.
• Experience manipulating and analyzing large datasets.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly recognize problems in results and identify root causes in data, methods, and code.
• Demonstrated success in designing, executing, and troubleshooting complex analytic code in R or Python.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills required, including track record of success in co-authorship on multiple scientific papers, presenting results, and representing research at meetings.
• Ability to work both independently and in collaboration with a team.
• A long-term interest in a research scientist position contributing to the overall mission of our research.
• A commitment to working to alongside others at IHME to illuminate the health impacts of systemic racism and to work within IHME to make our organization more diverse and inclusive. See IHME’s DEI statement here: http://www.healthdata.org/get-involved/careers/dei

DESIRED:

• PhD in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, quantitative social sciences, or MD plus two years’ experience, or master’s degree plus six years’ related experience preferred.
• Experience working with or for international organizations such as the World Health Organization, the World Bank, etc.
• Expertise in research using at least two statistical programming languages, R and Python.
• Experience with a wide range of quantitative methods, including machine learning, data mining, and other analytic techniques.
• Track record of success in lead and co-authorship on scientific papers, presenting results, and representing research at meetings.
• Demonstrated familiarity working with the Global Burden of Disease framework, understanding of its main attributes, and ability to apply it in analyses.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Weekend and evening work sometimes required.
• Office is located in Seattle, Washington. This position is eligible to work fully remote; work schedule established with supervisor.

Application Process:

The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.