Environmental Epidemiologist

Description

This supervisory-level epidemiologist is for the Bureau of Climate & Environmental Health’s Environmental Epidemiology Program (EEP) in the Climate Change and Special Projects Unit. This position oversees and conducts epidemiologic analysis related to Climate Change and other environmental health risks and health impacts. The position provides support to environmental health Data to Action Initiatives (such as pediatric asthma and indoor air quality in public schools), the Environmental Public Health Tracking program (EPHT), Community Health Assessment (CHA), and other projects. Responsibilities include working with EEP leadership and reporting staff to conduct statistical analyses, exploring alternative statistical approaches to analyzing and presenting data where appropriate (e.g., rate smoothing techniques), preparing statistical reports, and designing data visualizations for the public. Related responsibilities include data management and analysis of health outcomes data, description, and analysis of environmental health indicators as needed. Additional duties may include participation in conference calls with the U.S. CDC and participation in other internal and external collaborations, including oversight of contractors as needed. These responsibilities require strong analytic, data management, project management, and communication skills, as well as demonstrated supervisory capability.

Duties and Responsibilities (these duties are a general summary and are not all inclusive):

Provides project support to GIS mapping, the Environmental Public Health Tracking program (EPHT), Community Health Assessment (CHA), and other projects in the form of designing analysis plans, collecting and overseeing epidemiological data, conducting statistical analyses and interpreting findings. Works with EEP leadership and reporting staff to conduct statistical analyses, explore alternative statistical approaches to analyzing and present surveillance data where appropriate (e.g., spatiotemporal modeling, rate smoothing techniques). Prepares statistical reports, and designs data visualizations for the public, and participates in public presentation of findings. Coordinates with MDPH/BCEH/EEP senior staff on project requests and priority setting. Provides training, functional supervision and direction to interns and contractors, and provides analytic leadership to program staff such as lower-level epidemiologists. Applies principles of environmental health and epidemiologic research to propose solutions for analysis and presentation of environmental health surveillance data. Facilitates compliance with funding reporting requirements. Maintains confidential records in accordance with state privacy laws and departmental regulation. Reviews the methods for collection and quality of health data. Evaluates health and environmental data to assess completeness and quality. Conducts policy and program monitoring, development and evaluation to ensure quality and program improvement. Conducts data management, cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses and interpretation of health outcomes data, analysis of geographically indexed health data and multivariate analyses with respect to demographic, environmental, behavioral, socioeconomic, and infectious risk factors, and other environmental health indicators as needed. May participate in conference calls with the U.S. CDC and other internal and external collaborations. Works with the EPHT Program Manager to prepare climate-related and other information for the EPHT website. Prepares reports and publications for the public, public health practitioners, the scientific community, and other stakeholders. Supervises interns and contractors, as requested. Performs other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

Knowledge of the principles and practices of epidemiology. Mastery of the principles of environmental epidemiology and environmental health. Knowledge of epidemiologic research methods and techniques. Ability to design analysis plans, collect and manage epidemiological data, conduct statistical analyses, and interpret findings. Capacity to analyze and determine the applicability of epidemiological and demographic data to draw conclusions and make appropriate recommendations. Knowledge of biostatistics and survey/study design and development. Able to conduct cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Capable to conduct multivariate analyses. Ability to conduct analyses for policy and program monitoring, development, evaluation, research, and surveillance. Knowledge of the methods of statistical and scientific report writing. Able to make effective oral presentations. Able to give oral and written instructions in a precise and understandable manner. Capacity to establish rapport and deal tactfully with others. Ability to provide analytic leadership to program staff and frame evaluation questions.

Preferred Qualifications:

Previous experience evaluating climate impacts. Prior experience in regulatory science or managing public health using established environmental regulatory frameworks.  Previous experience in evaluating environmental health in environmental permitting decisions. Experience supervising projects or staff. Familiarity in the collection or evaluation of analytical data for the analyses of environmental or animal tissue specimens (human or animal biomonitoring data). Experience developing or implementing quality control procedures in the collection of analytical data. Knowledge of the methods for environmental risk assessment for human health exposures and impacts.

About the Department of Public Health:

The mission of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is to prevent illness, injury, and premature death, to assure access to high quality public health and health care services, and to promote wellness and health equity for all people in the Commonwealth.
 
We envision a Commonwealth in which all people enjoy optimal health. Massachusetts ranks among the healthiest of states according to comparative analyses, but we face numerous challenges, including chronic and infectious disease, substance abuse, violence, preventable hospitalizations, and health disparities.
 
DPH coordinates programs and policies to address specific diseases and conditions and offer services to address the needs of vulnerable populations. We also develop, implement, promote, and enforce regulations and policies to assure that the conditions under which people live are most conducive to health and enable people to make healthy choices for themselves and their families. We license health professionals, healthcare facilities and a variety of businesses that impact public health. We operate the state laboratory and four public health hospitals. We monitor health status and manage vital records including births, marriages and deaths. We educate people about public health issues and work closely with local boards of health and community partners to identify and solve public health problems.

More information can be found at:​

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