BIOINFORMATICIAN I, DCRI

School of Medicine

Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine is the youngest of the nation's top medical schools. Ranked sixth among medical schools in the nation, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe. Composed of more than 2,600 faculty physicians and researchers, nearly 2,000 students, and more than 6,200 staff, the Duke University School of Medicine along with the Duke University School of Nursing, and Duke University Health System comprise Duke Health, a world-class academic medical center. The Health System encompasses Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Health Integrated Practice, Duke Primary Care, Duke Home Care and Hospice, Duke Health and Wellness, and multiple affiliations.

Position Summary

The Clinical Research Informaticist I position is a leadership role on clinical research projects. This includes the development, use and evaluation of standards, models, processes and systems to optimize the design and conduct of clinical and translational research This is often accomplished through modeling workflow, semantic relationships, terminology, business rules and specification of technology requirements utilized in research. The Informaticist I has an understanding of the broader biomedical informatics practices including medical computing, terminology and healthcare processes. Knowledge and routine contribution to the domain of clinical research informatics is expected. The Informaticist I is an active leader working with faculty ensuring the success of clinical and translational research projects. Close collaboration with other disciplines and departments within and across Duke and external organizations is necessary.

The Informaticist I typically leads one or more biomedical research projects of average to moderate complexity, at times with oversight of a more senior Informaticist.

Travel is required.

** NOTE: This position may have an opportunity to work remotely. All Duke University and Duke Health remote workers must reside in one of the following states or districts: Arizona; California; Florida; Georgia; Hawaii; Illinois; Maryland; Massachusetts; Montana; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Pennsylvania; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Virginia or Washington, DC., Washington (State), Connecticut

Position Responsibilities

Administrative

• Supports and contributes to the administrative processes for the Informatics group and overall department.

Project Management

• Contributes to the project management activities of assigned projects and holds responsibility and accountability for assigned work contributing to the success of the project.
• Assist defining work requirements for new projects and monitor scope of assigned work within an ongoing project. This includes working with internal and external collaborators.
• Analyze and resolve issues that have potential to jeopardize agreed upon deliverables.
• Engage and collaborate with stakeholders in the development of artifacts defining the workflow and technical specifications in support of clinical or translational research projects.
• Contribute to the evaluation of costs, risks, benefits and regulatory requirements of implementation options considered by project teams.
• Provide leadership to the implementation, migration and validation of research data systems.
• Lead industry initiatives, committees and working groups.
• Contribute to lessons learned as routine part of project lifecycle.
• Actively plan, manage, and report on work status; seek efficiencies wherever possible.
• Always work toward positive and effective relationships with informatics staff and collaborators.

Technical

• Provide informatics support on research projects, including: requirements analyses, design, implementation and ongoing support for the research objectives.

• Leverage cross-discipline training and experience to capture project requirements, while facilitating participation by clinical, scientific, operational and information technology stakeholders.
• Consult on and provide direct technical support for research projects of routine complexity and often requiring solutions not previously utilized by project team or work group.
• Have working knowledge in domain modeling, relational database design, programming language(s), XML, data transfer methods, HL7, DICOM and CDISC standards and/or analytical techniques used in research programs. Maintain an understanding of emerging tools and technologies.
• Develop and maintain a working knowledge of statistical principles and analyses considerations for clinical and translational research.
• Develop and maintain knowledge of terminologies and coding procedures used in research and the healthcare environment
• Support the transfer of adopted technology, tools or methods into routine organizational activities through training, tools development and process documentation.
• Draft artifacts from domain modeling efforts.
• Analyze adopt and maintain new technologies/systems supporting data acquisition, integration and reporting activities to be adopted by a research project.
• Work closely with Information Technology (IT) support for network, database, and hardware/software from requirements throughout the Software Development Lifecycle representing the clinical or translational research project requirements.
• Lead validation & user acceptance testing as needed.
• Develop custom ad hoc reports and tools in support of clinical data management requirements.
• Offer concrete suggestions on how project-specific products or lessons that can be used by others with similar needs.
• Understand requirements presented by different types of data (i.e. clinical data, administrative data, imaging, and newer high-volume data sources).
• Ensure semantics and context of data is maintained during collection, processing and reporting.
• Troubleshoot issues across projects, identifying the underlying root causes and improvements for efficiency.
• Support mapping data structures and values from one dataset into another.

Analytics

• Perform data analyst functions that generate knowledge via data mining, visualization or other analytics.
• Contribute to the creation of best practices, resources and tools that enable new analytical capabilities.

Research

• Contribute knowledge of the scientific method to assist with the formal evaluation of informatics methods and products.

Training

• Educate internal and external partners on the value, role and methodology provided by biomedical informatics.
• Provide training on biomedical informatics-related concepts, applications and tools.
• Maintain working knowledge of biomedical informatics, including technology, standards, systems and methodologies used in health care and research.
• Develop and conduct training sessions for internal and external staff on a regular basis; present at conferences and/or publish in peer reviewed journals.
• Contribute to department training and development infrastructure including identification of training needs, ensure that training reflects local and industry standards.

The above statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this classification. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties required of personnel so classified.

Education and Experience

Work requires completion of a Bachelor's degree in informatics, computer science or a related field of study.

Preferred experience:

1. Completion of a Master's degree program providing training in biomedical informatics; or:
2. Completion of a Master's degree program in a related field plus two years of experience supporting biomedical informatics projects.

None required beyond that described above.

OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

Work requires a B.S. in Bioinformatics or the Biological Sciences with demonstrable computational skills; or a B.S. in Computer Science with a strong interest in Biology/Genomics. M.S. preferred.

OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas-an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.