Research Scientist For Aging And Health, World Trade Center Health Registry

Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live.

As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises from New York City's yellow fever outbreak in 1822, to the COVID-19 pandemic we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs, and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy, and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.

Our Agency's five strategic priorities, building off a recently-completed strategic planning process emerging from the COVID-19 emergency, are:

1. To re-envision how the Health Department prepares for and responds to health emergencies, with a focus on building a "response-ready" organization, with faster decision-making, transparent public communications, and stronger surveillance and bridges to healthcare systems 2) Address and prevent chronic and diet-related disease, including addressing rising rates of childhood obesity and the impact of diabetes, and transforming our food systems to improve nutrition and enhance access to healthy foods

2. Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness

3. Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women's health

4. Mobilize against and combat the health impacts of climate change

Our 7,000-plus team members bring extraordinary diversity to the work of public health. True to our value of equity as a foundational element of all of our work, and a critical foundation to achieving population health impact in New York City, the NYC Health Department has been a leader in recognizing and dismantling racism's impacts on the health of New Yorkers and beyond. In 2021, the NYC Board of Health declared racism as a public health crisis. With commitment to advance anti-racist public health practices that dismantle systems that perpetuate inequitable power, opportunity and access, the NYC Health Department continues to work in and with communities and community organizations to increase their access to health services and decrease avoidable health outcomes.

PROGRAM AND JOB DESCRIPTION:

The World Trade Center Health Registry (WTCHR) was created in 2002 to monitor and evaluate the physical and mental health impact on more than 71,000 persons exposed to the September 11, 2001 disaster. Housed within the Center for Population Health Data Science in a renowned and dynamic agency, the Registry's research influences national policies concerning healthcare for those who survived the attacks and contributes novel epidemiologic findings to the post-disaster public health literature.

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:

• Serve as co-principal investigator on an Aging Study that seeks to assess to what extent 9/11 exposure may exacerbate age-related conditions including (a) changes in functional health status, (b) exacerbation of existing chronic conditions, and (c) memory and cognitive decline.

• Supervise CRS I, CRS II, and interns, as requested.

• Oversee day-to-day administrative tasks associated with study implementing, including cross-unit internal coordination, developing timelines, staff allocation, budgeting, vendor contracts and negotiation.

• Oversee external research partnerships/collaborations during the conduct of the study

• Seek out new research collaborations to support intervention research.

Lead manuscript teams and mentor junior scientists working on topical areas related to Aging and produce scientific reports for publication and presentation.

• Propose scientific studies and analytic plans in areas of the long-term mental and physical health effects associated with exposure to the 9/11 disaster among older populations.

• Conduct independent analyses of WTCHR data, including employing methods designed to handle longitudinal or hierarchical data and data obtained through administrative linkages, time to event data, and methods common in epidemiology for addressing limitations of longitudinal cohort studies (e.g., missing data, attrition)

• Serve as lead author and co-author on manuscript teams that incorporates mentoring junior scientists.

• Complete the writing of manuscripts and submit to clearance and peer-reviewed journals.

• Participate in the design and implementation of WTCHR surveys and nested studies, including using methods drawing from both quantitative and qualitative research.

• Serve as co-author on scientific studies within the Registry to provide epidemiologic methods and/or content expertise.

• Prepare abstracts and presentations based on Registry studies and present findings at internal venues as well as national scientific conferences.

• Provide consultation and staff mentoring on epidemiological research methods.

• Communicate and collaborate with internal and external partners and assist in scientific program management.

• Conduct quality assurance of other analyst's work and Registry scientific outputs.

• Contribute to special projects as needed.

IMPORTANT NOTES TO ALL CANDIDATES:

Please note: If you are called for an interview you will be required to bring to your interview copies of original documentation, such as:

• A document that establishes identity for employment eligibility, such as: A Valid U.S. Passport, Permanent Resident Card/Green Card, or Driver's license.

• Proof of Education according to the education requirements of the civil service title.

• Current Resume

• Proof of Address/NYC Residency dated within the last 60 days, such as: Recent Utility Bill (i.e. Telephone, Cable, Mobile Phone)

Additional documentation may be required to evaluate your qualification as outlined in this posting's "Minimum Qualification Requirements" section. Examples of additional documentation may be, but not limited to: college transcript, experience verification or professional trade licenses.

If after your interview you are the selected candidate you will be contacted to schedule an on-boarding appointment. By the time of this appointment you will be asked to produce the originals of the above documents along with your original Social Security card.

LOAN FORGIVENESS

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education's website at StudentAid.gov/PSLF.

"FINAL APPOINTMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT & BUDGET APPROVAL"

"This position MAY be eligible for remote work up to two days per week, pursuant to the Remote Work Pilot Program."

Minimum Qualifications

1.For Assignment Level I (only physical, biological and environmental sciences and public health) A master's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological or environmental science or in public health.

To be appointed to Assignment Level II and above, candidates must have:

1.A doctorate degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and one year of full-time experience in a responsible supervisory, administrative or research capacity in the appropriate field of specialization; or

2.A master's degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and three years of responsible full-time research experience in the appropriate field of specialization; or

3.Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of specialization and at least two years of experience described in "2" above. Two years as a City Research Scientist Level I can be substituted for the experience required in "1" and "2" above.

NOTE:

Probationary Period

Appointments to this position are subject to a minimum probationary period of one year.

Preferred Skills

• PhD in epidemiology or related field preferred.

• Expertise in chronic disease, aging and/or life-course epidemiology.

• History of publishing manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals.

• Strong competency in statistics, SAS programming, STATA or R and data manipulation technologies.

• Experience in longitudinal study design and analysis.

• Experience in mentoring and guiding less experienced analysts and scientists in data analysis and manuscript writing.

Residency Requirement

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.