Informatics Research Scientist - Oregon Health & Science University

Department Overview:

The Oregon Clinical Translational Research Institute (OCTRI) at OHSU is a catalyst for scientific collaboration, translation of biomedical advances into the community, innovation and research growth in Oregon and beyond. OCTRI’s mission is to enhance the efficiency and quality of rigorously translating research ideas into impact. To accomplish our mission, our 80-90 employees spread across 13 teams provide a broad expanse of clinical and translational services that include training, funding, research support, and community engagement. OCTRI is part of the National Center for Translational Sciences (NCATS)-funded CTSA consortium that encompasses 60+ hubs around the country. Visit our website to learn more: octri.org.

 

The Research Scientist, Informatics, is a key position in OCTRI’s Informatics Program with responsibilities to design, implement, and maintain projects and project management solutions in support of research infrastructure development and research projects within the translational informatics framework. The OCTRI Informatics program supported $150M in research grants that used Research Data Warehouse (RDW) services. With the strategic investment under OHSU 2025 Strategic Initiative, OCTRI Informatics is undergoing significant transformation developing Next Generation RDW with multiple ongoing projects and supporting strategic tactics. This requires complex co-ordination with multi-institutional stakeholder relationships and support for OCTRI Informatics, and operational expertise.

 

The Research Scientist, Informatics, will work closely with the Director of Informatics within OCTRI’s Informatics Program to design, implement, and maintain project and program management solutions in support of research infrastructure development and research projects. Working with the Informatics Director, the incumbent translates the program’s vision and strategies into a tactical plan, implements the plan, and advises the Directors on progress towards Informatics goals, resource utilization and availability. The Research Scientist will co-ordinate with the Informatics application development and research data warehouse teams to translate and broad scientific questions into research data and research systems to support research. The Research Scientist will be a key person to develop internal and external partnerships that would utilize the strategic investment in Informatics for external grants and translate technical reporting by informatics for manuscript preparation and submission.

 

The Research Scientist is responsible for collaboration on projects and programs within the institution and with national and international stakeholders in research informatics representing and supporting OCTRI and researchers.

 

The Research Scientist will be responsible for developing a new set of program deliverables aimed at fostering translational science and its implementation. Specifically, the Research Scientist will design and lead scoping reviews to determine best practices for the development and implementation of a shared data repository to be utilized across CTSAs to promote increased patient-centeredness and engagement in clinical decision making. This project will include the development of a regulatory governance infrastructure that will enable data sharing across institutions and community partners. This position will present project findings at local and national conferences and meetings and work closely with the Program Director to identify new sources of program funding and submit applications for grant funding.

Function/Duties of Position:

Research Support: Provide research support to Informatics program under the supervision of the Director of Informatics in the areas of health information exchange, health data management, data governance, cyber-physical system to support FAIR principle, but not limited to these areas.

Manuscript Writing: Lead the development and writing of manuscripts. Determine new strategies for further dissemination of Informatics projects. Work independently to increase program impact (develop strategies to increase dissemination activities and determine additional avenues for product use).

Grant Proposal support: Support grant proposal development and strategic partnership building at national scale.

 

Innovation and dissemination: Contribute to the general body of informatics and biomedical research knowledge by pursuing opportunities to present at informatics and translational science conferences. Participate in OHSU wide innovation activities in Informatics and implement innovation related partnership and activities.

Strategic Project management: Align strategic investments in Informatics with the research agenda of the next generation AI and data systems as envisioned by the Director. Develop project plans based on established methodologies and best practices tailored to the diverse needs of a research informatics /IT environment. Responsible for project identification, planning, and resource allocation for Informatics $2.5M (annual) research project portfolio. Lead and collaboratively develop a process improvement program for various phases of the SDLC and administrative processes. Develop strategies to plan for and manage a dynamic portfolio of projects with competing and shifting priorities and interdependencies to optimize resource and budget allocation.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in relevant field AND 3 years of relevant experience; OR

• Master's Degree in relevant field AND 5 years of relevant experience; OR

• Bachelor's Degree in relevant field AND 7 years of relevant experience.

• 3 years of program management experience with a focus on designing and leading program development and quality improvement projects.

• Experience in research and leadership responsibilities consistent with goals of a research program.

• Experience in science at a considerable level as determined by the discipline.

• Experience in mentoring trainees or research personnel.

• Ability to work effectively with software engineers and business analysts to develop realistic project timelines and budgets.

• Ability to quickly recognize, assess, and remediate project and resource bottlenecks.

• Ability to rapidly elicit, understand, and prioritize high-level requirements, timeline, and budget constraints to assess project feasibility.

• Experience in data systems, software development life cycle, cloud computing, informatics systems.

• Superior oral and written communication skills.

• Enjoy working with physicians, basic science, and other biomedical investigators.

• Extremely well-organized self-starter with keen sense of priority, urgency, attention to detail, and commitment to deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Informatics or related field.
• 3 years of demonstrated scientific expertise leading research program development in the areas of translational informatics, data science, and healthcare data analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to oversee multiple projects simultaneously and mentor junior staff in an academic setting.
• Academic publication record as the lead author in the field of translational informatics science.
• Advanced knowledge of quantitative methodology (artificial intelligence, causal inference, neural network, machine learning)- data management; organizing and leading analysis of large-scale quantitative datasets.
• Experience in healthcare data infrastructure.
• Experience in EPIC data, common data models such as OMOP.
• Experience and publication record with big data from electronic health records.
• Experience in grant proposal development.
• OHSU IRB certifications.