Research Associate - 8463BR
Yale University
Yale University offers exciting opportunities for achievement and growth in New Haven, Connecticut. Conveniently located between Boston and New York, New Haven is the creative capital of Connecticut with cultural resources that include three major museums, a critically-acclaimed repertory theater, state-of-the-art concert hall, and world-renowned schools of Architecture, Art, Drama, Medicine, and Music.
General Purpose:
Under the direction of the Associate Director and the Influenza Program Coordinator, serve as Lead Surveillance Officer for the Surveillance for Guillian-Barré Syndrome (GBS Surveillance) during the Novel H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Campaign at the Yale Emerging Infections Program (EIP). This activity is a collaborative effort of the Yale EIP, Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and nine other EIP sites nationwide. The surveillance officer will carry out a range of activities including development and implementation of statewide surveillance protocols for GBS, development and maintenance of the surveillance network, data collection, data management, and supervision of surveillance staff. The surveillance officer may also assist with other EIP surveillance and research projects.
Position Description:
• Develop the CT specific surveillance protocol to identify all cases of hospitalized GBS statewide and rapidly implement these protocols. This will involve collaborating with staff at the CT DPH, CDC, as well as the Connecticut Neurological Society, individual neurologists, acute care hospitals (infection control personnel and information management personnel).
• Develop a clinical network consisting of all CT neurologists (over 200). Establish weekly communication channels with this network (e.g. email, telephone, fax) to facilitate rapid identification and reporting of all cases of GBS hospitalizations statewide. Develop and maintain contact with a network of 30 hospital infection control practitioners at CT acute care hospitals to enable rapid follow-up of reports of GBS hospitalization.
• Develop systems and protocols to manage reports of potential GBS cases from the clinical network; this will involve developing in-house databases to track the status of reports, telephone follow-up with neurologists and hospitals to verify case status and coordination of hospital chart reviews to collect required surveillance data. Coordinate and supervise telephone interviews of all GBS case-patients to gather past medical history and vaccine status.
• Establish channels of communication with DPH Immunization Program officials to corroborate H1N1 vaccination history and with primary care healthcare providers to obtain past medical history of GBS case-patients.
• Establish the mechanism to receive daily/weekly reports of GBS hospital admissions reported to DPH through the Hospital Admission Syndromic Surveillance (HASS) and reports of IVIg therapy with indication provided by hospital pharmacists. Develop computer programs to merge these reports with those received through the clinical network ensuring that all cases are counted only once.
• Work with hospital IT departments statewide to generate weekly reports of persons discharged with ICD-9 codes indicative of GBS. Develop computer programs to merge and compare the discharge reports with those from the clinical network.
• Collect and manage study data. Data sources include clinical network and HASS reports, patient interview data, medical chart abstraction forms, DPH immunization data, hospital discharge data and pharmacy IVIg reports. Data management tasks will include database testing/troubleshooting, de-duplication, supervision of data entry staff, maintenance of data integrity/security, and data review/cleaning, generating regular reports for transmission to DPH and CDC.
• Actively participate in conference calls and meetings with study partners including colleagues at CT DPH, CDC and other EIP sites.
• Perform ongoing regular data analysis and report preparation.
• Develop Human Subjects and HIPAA protocols and obtain all necessary approvals.
• Assist with other EIP projects as needed.
Qualifications:
• Master's Degree in a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Preferred: Experience and/or understanding of epidemiologic research, particularly disease surveillance; experience enrolling human subjects into a research study; data entry and data management experience; experience with data management and statistical software including Microsoft Access and SAS.
• Understanding of infectious disease surveillance methods.
• Familiarity with medical terminology.
• Familiarity with human subjects protection and HIPAA privacy regulations.
• Strong telephone interviewing skills.
• Strong time management skills and ability to independently prioritize tasks.
• Ability to manage flexible work hours as required to accommodate study goals.
• Ability to work both independently and as a competent team member.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Skilled in standard Microsoft Office software programs (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
Application: For more information and immediate consideration, please apply online at www.Yale.edu/jobs - the STARS req ID for this position is 8463BR. Please be sure to reference source code IHERC when applying for this position.
We invite you to discover the excitement, diversity, rewards and excellence of a career at Yale University. One of the country's great workplaces, Yale University offers exciting opportunities for meaningful accomplishment and true growth. Our benefits package is among the best anywhere, with a wide variety of insurance choices, liberal paid time off, fantastic family and educational benefits, a variety of retirement benefits, extensive recreational facilities, and much more.
Yale University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Yale values diversity in its faculty, staff, and students and strongly encourages applications from women and members of underrepresented minority groups.
