The Simulation of Alcohol Control Policies for Health Equity (SIMAH) project is a major alcohol modelling project funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and represents a collaboration between three world-leading centres in public health research: the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Toronto), the Public Health Institute (California) and The University of Sheffield (UK). We are seeking a Research Associate to develop the advanced population health simulation models within SIMAH. This role is based at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Prof. Robin Purshouse. The role involves design and implementation of microsimulation models representing the population of the USA at state-level. You will be responsible for calibrating and validating the models to data and running health outcome predictions and policy appraisals using the calibrated models. You will be keen to work across disciplinary boundaries in developing world class and transformative research in the modelling of population health behaviours and outcomes. You will be able to draw on world-leading expertise in epidemiology, microsimulation and uncertainty quantification in support of your role. You will have a significant opportunity to advance your data sciences career in active collaboration with a range of leading researchers and will entail participation in multiple peer-reviewed publications.
Main duties and responsibilities:
- Undertake all stages of the model development lifecycle for the SIMAH microsimulation, including design, R implementation in custom R packages, and testing.
- Undertake the collection and curation of secondary data sources for the microsimulation, implementing data processing workflows in R, and complying with data integrity and ethical standards.
- Undertake simulation model calibration and validation activities, with implementation in R, including implementation of uncertainty quantification methods (e.g. Approximate Bayesian Computation) for model inference.
- Participate in regular code review activities for the microsimulation and provide support to project researchers in using the microsimulation.
- Undertake health outcome predictions, policy appraisal and policy evaluation modelling using the microsimulation, in collaboration with specialist co-investigators.
- Attend regular scientific and project management meetings for the SIMAH project.
- Lead high quality journal paper submissions as first author, contribute to other journal paper submissions as a co-author and support progress reporting to the funder.
- Lead the dissemination of SIMAH’s open-source microsimulation modelling infrastructure (e.g. by organising and delivering workshops and special sessions at leading epidemiology and simulation conferences and symposia).
- Co-supervise final year undergraduate and MSc project students.
- Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.
