Research Associate in Medical Statistics/Epidemiology
This is new full-time post funded by MRC for 36 months for a candidate with
a PhD degree or equivalent experience in medical statistics or epidemiology.
The focus of this job is to develop new statistical methods to account for
missing data in large clinical databases. The candidate will be a part of a
multidisciplinary team including statisticians, epidemiologists and general
practitioners from UCL, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and
MRC Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge. The post is based within the research
department of Primary Care & Population Health (PCPH) at UCL’s Royal Free
campus (Hampstead Heath) in north London.
Background
Several UK primary care databases have emerged as powerful data sources for
research into cardiovascular disease. One drawback of using these databases,
however, has been the high proportion of missing data on cardiovascular
health indicators such as smoking, alcohol consumption, blood pressure and
body mass index. While multiple imputation of missing data has been
increasingly used in epidemiology, it has proved difficult to carry out on
primary care databases.
The aim of this project is to develop, implement and evaluate imputation
algorithms for missing data on cardiovascular health indicators, which take
into account the dynamic and longitudinal structure of large primary care
databases. The objectives are to: 1) Document the patterns and structure of
missing data over time in a large primary care clinical database (THIN). 2)
Develop imputation algorithms to multiply impute the missing health
indicator data, taking account of the specific features and timing of the
data recording. 3) Evaluate and cross validate the results of data
imputation and, apply the methodological insights and results in our ongoing
research projects In particular, we will appraise the suitability of the
imputed data for construction of a plausible cardiovascular risk score.
The project team includes: Irene Petersen (UCL), James Carpenter (LSHTM),
Ian White (MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge), Richard Morris (UCL), Louise
Marston (UCL), Kate Walters (UCL) and Irwin Nazareth (UCL).
PCPH holds a full licence to THIN (www.http://www.epic-uk.org/thin.htm). It
holds data from more than 5 million patients in the UK. In PCPH there are
more than 20 statisticians, epidemiologists and general practitioners
working on various projects in mental health, infectious diseases, sexual
health and cardiovascular diseases using data from THIN. We host a primary
care database methodological usergroup with members across universities in
England and MRC units. Further information about our work on primary care
databases can be found on our website
(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcph/research/thin/index.htm).
The focus of this job is to develop new statistical methods to account for
missing data in large clinical databases. The candidate will be a part of a
multidisciplinary team including statisticians, epidemiologists and general
practitioners from UCL, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and
MRC Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge. The post is based within the research
department of Primary Care & Population Health (PCPH) at UCL’s Royal Free
campus (Hampstead Heath) in north London.
Interested candidates are invited to contact Dr Irene Petersen for informal
discussion about this post: email: [log in to unmask] telephone: 020
7794 0500, extension 34395.
The job description (including person specification) can be accessed on:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcph/information/vacancies/index.htm
Job application should be made online via
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/vacancies/adverts/job-list.html Closing date 23
September
If you have trouble with the online application, please contact Hannah
Fenton, email [log in to unmask]
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