Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program

May, 2011

We are looking for a Computer Programmer/Analyst

BCDSP seeks a computer programmer/analyst to support a well established and ongoing non-profit research program focused on drug safety.

Our activities involve analyzing medical records to determine both adverse and beneficial effects of prescription drugs. We also provide a venue to support graduate students in completing their degrees in epidemiology and public health.

Tired of programming in isolation or on a small piece of a large effort where your efforts go unrecognized? We offer an informal, highly collaborative work environment where you work closely with bright, articulate people who value your contribution.

Since we are affiliated with Boston University we offer the full range of employment benefits available to BU staff. However, our offices are located in Lexington, MA, and are not on a BU campus.

We are looking primarily for junior to mid-level personnel but would not exclude more experienced people purely on the basis of age/experience. Candidates should show competence in at least one classic programming language (C, C++, Java, Pascal/Delphi) and some experience with management of large data sets. RDBMS experience is not required but would be helpful. Experience with a major statistics application (SAS/JMP, Stata, SPSS, or R) or custom statistical programming would also be a plus.

Successful candidates must be willing to adopt new languages and techniques as well as contribute ideas for improving our practices. The ability to balance several tasks at once is required. An open mind and good humor are also important.

Contact: Doug Chamberlin, Senior Database Manager

February, 2011

We are looking for a senior epidemiologist with experience in the area of post-marketing drug safety research. Duties of this position will include

• Conducting research: Work as a team in a cooperative informal atmosphere designing drug safety and pharmacoepidemiology studies, reviewing, organizing, and analyzing data, writing reports and manuscripts
• Working with graduate students, interns, and co-workers: mentoring those who are training in this area of research, supervising their work and helping to create an atmosphere for training highly qualified researchers
• Writing grants
• Providing clinical expertise to co-workers during the design and conduct of studies

Must have an MD and a masters or doctorate in epidemiology plus some research experience. Candidate should be comfortable working with graduate students, and taking the lead on research projects.

NOTE: North American Residents Only!

We are located Lexington, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. We are a small but very productive research group that has pioneered research in, and methodology for, post-marketing drug safety studies using observational data. We were the first to use electronic databases for research in this area and have established methods for their appropriate use over our 40 year history. We helped develop the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) and have been using it extensively for 20 years. We also have extensive experience with many other data resources.

Our program emphasizes study methodology, close collaboration and teamwork, and the development of skills and new methods for research using electronic data.

Contact: Susan Jick, Director