Research Scientist II (Surveillance and Catchment Data)

Position Summary:

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is seeking a Research Scientist II (Surveillance and Catchment Data) within the Cancer Health Equity Center of Excellence at the Rutgers Cancer Institute.

Under the direction of the Assistant Director and Program Manager, the Research Scientist II for Surveillance and Catchment Data will conduct research analyses of cancer surveillance, environmental, population, and screening data to advance the objectives of the Cancer Health Equity Center of Excellence (CHECoE) and improve understanding of cancer patterns, disparities, and social determinants of cancer outcomes. The Research Scientist II will work with CHECoE management to design, develop, and implement a robust program of services and deliverables to ensure high quality, effective support to researchers and the communities served by the Rutgers Cancer Institute.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following:

• Collects, tabulates, analyzes, and interprets cancer surveillance, population, geographic, environmental, and health services catchment area data using appropriate data management, statistical, GIS, and other programming software such as R, SAS, ArcGIS, SQL, Python and AI tools.
• Conducts geospatial and epidemiologic analyses relevant to the catchment area to assess cancer outcomes, spatial patterns, temporal trends, and disparities across demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic groups.
• Designs and implements a comprehensive evaluation plan informed by the Cancer Health Equity Center of Excellence (CHECoE) Strategic Plan and Logic Model for the purposes of continuous program improvement. The evaluation plan may include, but is not limited to, construction of measures of relevant processes and outcomes, methodological design and data collection, identification of data sources, statistical analysis, interpretation, and dissemination.
• Conducts epidemiological analyses when necessary, prepares study protocols to obtain administrative oversight approvals by the Rutgers Cancer Institute Scientific Review Board, Rutgers Institutional Review Board, and other partner agencies.
• Assists Program Manager in responding to inquiries and requests from Cancer Center program members and community partners for catchment area statistics and data.
• Facilitates linkage of catchment area data with other sources, such as the New Jersey State Cancer Registry, RWJBarnabas Health, US Census, and other environmental, demographic, neighborhood contextual (e.g., socioeconomic indices, segregation measures, redlining, rurality), and public health data.
• Contributes to scientific reporting, technical documentation, grant applications, manuscripts, presentations, and collaborative research projects relevant to the catchment area utilizing data from epidemiologic and surveillance research analyses.
• Summarizes relevant statistics on the epidemiologic and surveillance research analyses, constructs data visualization tools such as infographics and chloropleth maps to disseminate findings to Cancer Center program members, community partners, public health and health care partners as directed.
• Assists with preparation of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) and Cancer Health Equity Center of Excellence (CHECoE) progress reports and presentations.
• Liaises closely with other departments to assist with data tracking projects and systems, including assessing whether platforms available to the CHECoE (e.g., EVAL, Envisio) can appropriately be leveraged for such data tracking and management.
• Attends regional and other stakeholder meetings as needed, developing collaborative relationships with program members and public health partners.

Minimum Education and Experience:

• Master's degree in Epidemiology or a related scientific field is required; a doctoral degree is preferred.
• Three (3) years of demonstrated experience applying intermediate to advanced epidemiologic and geospatial research methods to population‑based health or cancer data required.
• A Doctorate degree in a related science may be substituted for two (2) years of experience as indicated above.

City:

New Brunswick

State:

NJ

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Standing, sitting, walking, talking and hearing.
• No special vision requirements.
• Lifting up to 25 lbs.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Office environment. Moderate noise.

Special Conditions:

• This position may require traveling to various locations throughout the state. Must have a valid driver's license and possess own vehicle or alternative means of transportation from one site to another.