Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston
Located in Boston, Dana Farber Cancer Institute brings together world renowned clinicians, innovative researchers and dedicated professionals, allies in the common mission of conquering cancer, HIV/AIDS and related diseases. Combining extremely talented people with the best technologies in a genuinely positive environment, we provide compassionate and comprehensive care to patients of all ages; we conduct research that advances treatment; we educate tomorrow’s physician/researchers; we reach out to underserved members of our community; and we work with amazing partners, including other Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals.
Statisticians collaborate with scientific investigators and other statisticians in the design and analysis of clinical trials, basic translational studies, observational data from surveys, medical records, or administrative data, data from the study of genetic markers in human populations or animal models of cancer, experiments on the development of new laboratory assays and data from population-based studies. They are expert in the technical aspects of statistical theory and practice required for their work and highly trained in statistical computing. Experienced statisticians are expected to work independently, mentor and, in some cases, supervise junior statisticians.
This role will work with investigators and other statisticians in the analysis of clinical trial data, data from observational studies, data from the study of genetic markers or animal models of cancer, experiments on the development of new laboratory assays and data from population based studies. Data analysis skills will typically involve the use of standard statistical packages such as SAS, R, or Stata but may involve learning and usage of other project-specific software. Statisticians should have comfort with data manipulation and should have the ability to perform sensitivity analyses and test alternative assumptions and goodness-of-fit of alternative models.
This role includes responsibilities for study design, including sample size calculations to insure adequate power, the design of stratified randomization schemes and early stopping rules for phase III studies, the design of phase II studies, including two-stage designs for early stopping, randomized phase II designs, the design of laboratory and translational studies, the design of retrospective analysis of population-based studies, and writing associated statistical sections describing these designs. Laboratory studies may involve either correlative studies associated with clinical studies, or basic studies in the biology of cancer. This role also includes designing simple laboratory and animal studies, including justifying numbers of replicates. Statistician I’s will typically spend more time designing smaller, simpler studies, such as phase II studies; or straightforward retrospective studies. They will work under a supervisor when designing more complex studies, such as phase II clinical trials, genomics experiments, or comparative-effectiveness research studies. Often, these activities will involve learning and usage of commercial as well as locally written special purpose software.
To the extent that protocol preparation and review are components of the staff member’s particular position, then Statistician I-III personnel play an essential role in the protocol review process, including preparing reviews for Disease Program Leaders, for the Adult, Pediatric, Non-therapeutic and other Scientific Review Committees, and for the Institutional Review Board. These reviews evaluate the objectives and feasibility of a study, and ensure that the statistical design matches the overall goals of the study. In many cases, the review leads to corrections in the associated protocol. Statisticians are also expected to peer review designs and analytic work of other statisticians in the office. In the case of population-based research, in lieu of DFCI IRB review, review of analytic plans and data use agreements by federal or state agencies, (e.g. the CDC) may be required. In this context, Statisticians I-III, are expected to formulate the analytic plans and ensure that they are described accurately on data use agreements.
This role often works as part of a writing team preparing abstracts and manuscripts that describe results of clinical trial, retrospective, translational or basic science studies. A Statistician I will rarely write large sections of a manuscript, but, under the guidance of a more senior statistician, a Statistician I will write the statistical methods sections of a manuscript, assist in writing the results section, and will check manuscripts for numerical accuracy. Statistician I’s may work with the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group to prepare technical reports for completed clinical trials and interim study reports for the Group and Data Monitoring Committee on ongoing studies. The technical reports usually form the basis of manuscripts submitted to the scientific literature. Specifically, statisticians will routinely assume primary responsibility for preparation of tables and figures submitted for peer review publications.
This role often assists many investigators in the preparation of research grants, both as part of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard Center for AIDS Research, cancer SPOREs, ECOG and other projects as well as for other smaller grants. Statistician I’s often calculate the parameters for the experimental design for the grants, especially sample size calculations for either clinical laboratory or translational studies and animal studies and the description of the methods of data analysis. In almost all instances, this work will be supervised by a more senior statistician.
Statisticians may be asked to participate in scientific meetings, conference calls, team meetings with multidisciplinary scientific collaborators to ensure that projects stay on track. The Statistician will work with PIs and project managers to ensure that clearly delineated analysis plans are developed and executed.
BS/BA Required. Masters degree in statistics or biostatistics required. 0-2 years of experience are required
M-F, 40 hours/week
Full-Time
