Research Assistant in Virology (Public Health) - ,

Description
The position will be placed within Dr. Fors Connolly’s research group at Department of Clinical Microbiology, an interdisciplinary team comprising physicians, statisticians, epidemiologists, and biomedical researchers. The group has published several high-impact scientific articles on cardiovascular events following viral infections in journals such as The Lancet, BMJ, and Circulation.

The research focuses on risk factors for infection, severe illness, acute and long-term complications following infection, with a current emphasis on SARS-CoV-2, Influenza virus, and Puumala virus. The research is translational, involving population studies, clinical studies, and laboratory studies.

Responsibilities

The position involves working with large national comprehensive population multi-register data collected from the Public Health Agency of Sweden, Statistics Sweden, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, and many other sources. The focus is on studying the risk of neuropsychiatric complications following viral infections.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Managing large national register data covering the entire Swedish population with repeated data.
• Identifying and selecting relevant International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes from ICD versions 8 to 11 in register data.
• Identifying and selecting relevant medications based on Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes in registers.
• Identifying and selecting clinical interventions based on procedural codes.
• Working with data from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.
• Performing statistical and epidemiological analyses with full population data.
• Performing advanced statistical analyses using methods such as the self-controlled case series (SCCS) method.
• Creating data files for your project by cross-linking relevant variables.
• Participating in and contributing to scientific group meetings involving the groups and their collaborators.
• Communicating with colleagues from various professional categories.
• Contributing to the publication of research results.
• Working with sensitive data securely.

The primary task involves data management and data analysis, particularly using the SCCS method. Therefore, strong knowledge of data management and data analysis, in general, is required, along with specific skills in linking large register data. You will be part of an international team of physicians, statisticians, epidemiologists, and biomedical researchers, with collaborations in Denmark and Finland. Therefore, good communication and collaboration skills are essential.

Qualifications

Required for the position:

• Minimum of a medical degree, either from Sweden, within or outside the EU.
• Clinical experience with patient management.
• Solid practical knowledge in data management.
• Good knowledge of handling statistical programs such as R.
• Practical experience in data analysis using the SCCS method.
• Knowledge and practical experience in handling full population data.
• Extensive and practical experience in handling Swedish national register data.

Desirable qualifications:

• Master's degree in Public Health or a related field.
• Master's degree in Molecular Biology.
• Good knowledge of Swedish national register data.

Strong knowledge in epidemiology and/or statistics.
Considerable importance is placed on previous experience in handling large register data, clinical experience, and the ability to collaborate in interdisciplinary teams. Another requirement is the ability to work independently and be meticulous.

Application

• Cover letter illustrating qualifications and motivation.
• Certified copies of relevant degrees.
• CV including publication list.
• Recommendation letters and contact details for at least 2 references.

Terms

Research Assistant in Virology (Public Health)
11 months, full-time, starting as agreed.
Applications should be submitted electronically via Varbi by 2024-07-04.

Further Information:
Anne-Marie Fors Connolly MD PhD, Associate Professor
Email: anne-marie.fors.connolly@umu.se

Welcome with your application!