RESEARCH SCIENTIST SPECIALIST

Research Scientist Specialist

Position Summary The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Family & Community Medicine Chair Office, is looking for a Research Scientist Specialist to join their team. The Research Scientist Specialist will provide advanced scientific and methodological expertise across a portfolio of clinical, population health, health services, and implementation research studies. The successful candidate will lead and support the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of research focused on improving health outcomes, healthcare delivery, and health equity among diverse populations. This position requires expertise in biostatistics, clinical informatics, health economic evaluation, predictive analytics, and effectiveness-implementation research. The incumbent will collaborate with multidisciplinary investigators, clinicians, statisticians, informaticians, community partners, and research staff to develop innovative analytical approaches, evaluate interventions, and generate evidence to inform clinical practice, health system decision-making, and healthcare policy.

General Responsibilities A Research Scientist Specialist delves deeper into niche areas within their field, leading complex research initiatives and developing innovative methodologies. This role demands a higher level of expertise and independent judgment in experimental design and problem-solving. Specialists often mentor junior scientists, contributing significantly to strategic research directions and publishing influential findings. Depending on the research focus, this position may involve research collaborator contact, research animal contact, and/or specimens.

Key Duties & Responsibilities Design and conduct complex research studies involving clinical, behavioral, population health, health services, and implementation science methodologies. Contribute to the development of research protocols, statistical analysis plans, grant applications, manuscripts, reports, and scientific presentations. Collaborate with principal investigators and interdisciplinary teams to identify research priorities and develop innovative methodological approaches. Provide scientific consultation regarding study design, measurement, data management, and analytic strategies. Maintain scientific rigor, quality assurance, and compliance with applicable research standards and regulations. Lead statistical analyses of clinical trials, observational studies, implementation studies, survey research, and healthcare delivery research. Conduct advanced analyses using advanced regression modeling, including but not limited to, longitudinal data analysis, survival analysis, and mixed-effects modeling, causal inference approaches, predictive modeling, and machine learning techniques. Perform sample size calculations, power analyses, and statistical consultation for investigator-initiated studies and grant proposals. Develop reproducible analytic workflows using statistical programming languages and modern data science practices. Collaborate with investigators to interpret findings and translate analytical results into scientific publications and presentations. Analyze large-scale electronic health record, registry, claims, community health, and other real-world healthcare datasets. Develop and implement data integration, cleaning, management, and quality assurance processes. Apply informatics and data science methodologies to support clinical, operational, and population health initiatives. Partner with healthcare providers and research teams to transform complex healthcare data into actionable evidence. Support development and implementation of data-driven solutions that improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. Design and conduct health economic evaluations, including cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, cost-benefit, and budget impact analyses. Develop decision analytic models, including decision tree and Markov models, to evaluate healthcare interventions and programs. Conduct comparative effectiveness research to assess clinical and economic outcomes of healthcare delivery models and interventions. Contribute to health technology assessments and value-based healthcare research initiatives. Generate evidence to inform health policy, reimbursement decisions, and resource allocation strategies. Lead and contribute to peer-reviewed manuscripts, conference abstracts, scientific reports, and grant applications. Present research findings at local, national, and international scientific meetings. Collaborate with investigators to develop competitive extramural funding applications. Contribute to the department's scientific reputation through high-quality scholarship and methodological innovation. Serve as a methodological resource for faculty, trainees, and research staff. Provide consultation and training on statistical methods, health economic evaluation, clinical informatics, and data science approaches. Mentor students, trainees, and junior investigators in research methodology and analytic techniques. Foster collaborative relationships across academic, healthcare, and community-based partners. Perform other duties as assigned.

Salary Range: $81,525-$132,475

Qualifications Doctorate degree in a related field and three (3) years of related experience OR Master's degree in a related field and five (5) years of related experience OR Bachelor's degree in a related field and seven (7) years of related experience required. Work experience may NOT substitute for education requirement. Preferences Demonstrated expertise in biostatistics, epidemiology, health services research, or quantitative population health research. Experience conducting health economic evaluations and cost-effectiveness analyses. Experience developing decision analytic models, including Markov and decision tree models. Experience working with clinical, electronic health record, registry, claims, or population-based datasets. Experience applying machine learning, predictive analytics, and advanced statistical methodologies to healthcare research. Proficiency with R, SAS, Python, SQL, STATA, or related analytical software. Experience with comparative effectiveness research, implementation science, or health outcomes research. Record of peer-reviewed publications and scientific presentations. Demonstrated success collaborating on multidisciplinary research teams. Key Skills Advanced knowledge of statistical methodology and data science. Knowledge of clinical informatics and healthcare data systems. Knowledge of health economic evaluation and outcomes research methods. Ability to independently manage multiple complex research projects. Strong scientific writing and communication skills. Ability to translate complex analytical findings for clinical, scientific, and non-technical audiences. Strong collaborative and leadership skills.

Primary Location: University

Job Category: Scientific Research

Organization: 311300000 Family & Community Medicine Chair Office

Employee Status: Regular Shift: Day/1st Shift Work Arrangement (final schedule to be determined by the department/hiring manager): Remote/Hybrid Eligible