• Job Description

  Req#: 985913
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  GENERAL SUMMARY/ OVERVIEW STATEMENT:
  Dr. Amy Dickey is seeking highly motivated and enthusiastic candidates for a Data Analyst position for projects related to the study of porphyria, a family of rare genetic diseases affecting heme production. The Data Analyst would be working with a multidisciplinary team under the direction of principal investigator Dr. Amy Dickey at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS). Applicants will contribute to innovative projects with guidance from Dr. Dickey, as well as other investigators in the MGH Healthcare Transformation Lab, the MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, and the MGH Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
  The primary type of porphyria that Dr. Dickey researches is erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), which causes painful light sensitivity, and she has studies related to all other types of porphyria as well. Symptoms of the porphyrias include abdominal pain, depression, anxiety, psychosis, liver dysfunction, painful light sensitivity, blistering/scarring light sensitivity, anemia, liver failure, and liver cancer. She has a diverse array of datasets that the data analyst will be analyzing. These include the following:
  1. Light dosimetry for EPP: Dr. Dickey has light dosimetry data from 3 different studies of EPP patients, with every 2-minute light dose data and daily symptom and light exposure text surveys. The goals of this study at (1) to enable patients to predict and prevent symptoms in EPP to improve their quality of life and (2) the development of quantitative clinical trial endpoints to bring new therapies to patients.
  2. Identification of genetic modifiers for EPP: A data analyst will analyze genome data and SNP arrays of EPP patients within the same family who have large differences in red cell protoporphyrin levels or light sensitivity to better understand the reasons for differences in light sensitivity among patients.
  3. Genetic, clinical, and biochemical dataset analysis: Dr. Dickey has clinical, biochemical, and genetic data on >80 patients with confirmed porphyria seen in the MGH Porphyria Clinical. She also has access to large genetic datasets, such as the UK Biobank dataset, the Partners Biobank dataset, and the All of Us dataset. A data analyst would identify patients with pathogenic variants in the large datasets and correlate these with the diagnosis of porphyria and relevant diagnoses, symptoms, and biochemical data. Also, , they would identify patients with a diagnosis of porphyria and characterize their clinical and biochemical data. Depending on the type of porphyria, this could allow for a better understanding of porphyria and its disease penetrance or underdiagnosis.
  4. Cimetidine for EPP clinical trial: Dr. Dickey is leading a clinical trial of cimetidine for EPP. A data analyst would monitor and analyze the light dosimetry data collected as part of this study and analyze the study results.
  The Data Analyst will work with multiple types of data, including longitudinal data, large genetic and clinical datasets, and device datasets. Applicants are encouraged to have a strong research background with 2-5 years of experience in applied data analysis. They must be proficient with R. Candidates are encouraged to have an MS degree or higher in a related field (e.g., biostatistics, data science, bioinformatics) with an ability to conceptualize and conduct complex analyses, fluency with all modes of communication in English, and proven ability to work well independently and in a collaborative environment.
  This highly collaborative research environment includes physicians and students at MGH, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Candidates should be prepared to commit a minimum of 2 years to the position. Please attach your CV and a brief statement describing your qualifications for this position.
  PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
  • Acquire, store, clean, and pre-process complex data
  • Use advanced quantitative statistical analysis methods to analyze data
  • Disseminate results via conferences and journal publication
  • Acts as a statistical subject matter expert and resource for numerous projects
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  SKILLS/ABILITIES/COMPETENCIES REQUIRED:
  • Advanced knowledge of statistical analysis approaches (e.g., linear and logistic regression; longitudinal analyses)
  • Works well independently as well as part of a team
  • Database management skills
  • Excellent skills in written and verbal communication
  • Excellent organizational skills
  • Excellent organizational and quantitative skills
  • Ability to work well in a collaborative environment
  • Ability to perform complex statistics or biostatistics, data mining, database management, and computer programming (e.g., R, Unix).
  EDUCATION:
  • Bachelor’s degree required
  • MS degree or higher in a related field encouraged (e.g., data science, biostatistics, bioinformatics).
  EXPERIENCE:
  • 2-5 years of experience in managing complex data is preferred
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  Massachusetts General Hospital is an Equal Opportunity Employer. By embracing diverse skills, perspectives and ideas, we choose to lead. Applications from protected veterans and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged.
  
  
  MGH Main Campus (MGHMAIN)
  55 Fruit Street
  Boston, 02114
  
  

• About the company

  Mass General Brigham is a Boston-based non-profit hospital and physicians network that includes Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, two of the nation's most prestigious teaching institutions.

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