Open Positions

Research Associate in Biomedical Informatics

The Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School is looking for a research associate who will serve as a member of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in statistics/machine learning, informatics, and clinical medicine. Our team studies large and disparate datasets from multi-institutional electronic health records (EHR) data and biomedical texts. We develop analytical and predictive tools using these large scale biomedical data to improve the efficiency and accuracy of healthcare delivery. Specific responsibilities for this position include: design, create and maintain reproducible data pipelines; develop and maintain natural language processing algorithms on biomedical texts including clinical notes; work with research scientists both internally and externally to ensure data and algorithm accuracy; and collaborate with team members in carrying out research projects.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Work with data management team and research scientists to design, create and deliver analytical databases, reports and analysis; provide programming expertise for research projects
  • Work closely with clinical investigators/statistical and machine learning researchers to design and implement automated data extraction and harmonization solutions
  • Ensure results are delivered in a timely manner while overseeing quality standards
  • The research associate will be expected to leverage existing ontologies and knowledge sources such as the Unified Medical language system to independently design and implement automated electronic health records data curation strategies. The research associate is also expected to independently design and implement strategies to refine existing machine learning or informatics tools to improve scalability and reproducibility

Skills and Experience:

  • Experienced in working with big data and building data and analytical pipelines
  • Capable of working independently, writing analytic plans, performing analysis and writing reports to facilitate research decisions; working knowledge of statistical analysis
  • Proficient in SQL, Python, and R
  • Natural Language Processing knowledge/experience is a plus
  • Understanding of the healthcare domain, clinical, epidemiology and/or genomic data is a plus but not a requirement
  • Excellent attention to detail, logic and organizational skills
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both oral and written

Basic Qualifications:

  • Minimum Master’s Degree in Computer Science or related field
  • Demonstrated team performance skills, and the ability to work independently
  • High sense of ownership of the issues and ability to solve problems presented by data independently

Contact Information: Scientific questions regarding this position can be sent to Tianxi Cai at tcai@hsph.harvard.edu.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biostatistics and Biomedical Informatics

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in biostatistics and biomedical informatics is available at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The positions involve developing and applying statistical and computational methods for analysis of electronic health records (EHR) data including narrative data extracted via natural language processing, codified phenotype data as well as large scale genomic measurements. We seek an individual with strong statistical and computing backgrounds and who has expertise in statistical and machine learning methods for big data. The work will involve development and application of statistical and informatics methods and algorithm for analyzing EHR data.

Basic Qualifications: Ph.D. in a quantitative field, e.g., statistics or biostatistics, computer sciences, strong quantitative research background, statistical and programming proficiency, as well as good written and oral communication skills.

Contact Information: Scientific questions regarding this position can be sent to Tianxi Cai at tcai@hsph.harvard.edu.