Research Associate – Pharmacoeconomics, Cancer Care Ontario

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The Pharmacoeconomics Research Unit is a research team that supports Provincial Drug Reimbursement Programs at Cancer Care Ontario with timely, high quality, and relevant information to inform drug funding policy. Development of economic evidence with practical application requires a tailored approach with a detailed understanding of the issues and concerns of all stakeholders, as well as the impact on the system and patients.

The Research Associate will support our Real-World Evidence initiatives to evaluate funded therapies. Reporting to the Manager, Pharmacoeconomics Research Unit, the Research Associate will be involved in managing research projects in collaboration with the Provincial Drug Reimbursement Programs, Cancer Analytics, Clinical Programs, and research and policy counterparts from other cancer agencies through the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control. These studies will involve designing and conducting real-world utilization, effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness evaluations of patient-level data using administrative databases at CCO and at ICES.

This position will offer the successful candidate an opportunity to work in a fast-paced environment with real-world application and impact.

Here is what you will be doing:

• Informing the design, analysis and reporting of observational studies of patient-level secondary datasets to evaluate real-world cancer drug utilization, comparative effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness
• Liaising with analysts, clinicians, researchers, provincial drug reimbursement programs staff, payers, and experts in patient-reported outcomes to develop robust and policy-relevant research questions and analyses
• Supporting and effectively managing the execution of multiple projects involving a variety of stakeholders, meeting tight timelines and handling competing priorities
• Ensuring the appropriateness of analytical methods and accuracy of data analyses in meeting the needs of the research or policy questions under study
• Developing compelling proposals, reports and presentations using excellent written, verbal, and graphical communications skills, with ability to express complex concepts clearly and effectively
• Presenting findings at academic conferences and to policy stakeholders
• Assembling the required documents for obtaining and maintaining ethics approval for projects that involve personal health information and are intended for publication
• Creating analysis plans (Dataset Creation Plans) for Analytics that detail appropriate data linkages, selection and analyses based on strong familiarity with CCO and ICES data holdings
• Critically appraising strengths and limitations of data sources and contributing technical and analytical expertise for creating meaningful information from clinical, administrative and survey databases
• Researching and understanding complex clinical processes and scenarios in cancer and novel analytic methods for addressing confounding or bias in observational studies for incorporation into studies
• Conducting analyses of patient-level data using various statistical methods with SAS or R software as required and interpreting and reporting the findings to various stakeholders
• Supporting and facilitating development of future project proposals and grant applications
• Developing methods and processes to advance the fields of health economics and health technology assessment, reassessment and management for cancer drug reimbursement decision-making

Here is what you will need to be successful:

Experience

• Completion of a master’s degree in health services research, health economics or operations research, or recognized equivalent
• Strong background in health services, operations research, health economics, or econometric research methodology with a focus on observational analyses using secondary data sources
• Strong background in patient-level data analyses, administrative datasets, and health services research methodology, along with relevant analytic and methodological work experience in a healthcare setting
• Ability to manipulate data with spreadsheet, database, and other analytical software; experience with statistical programs such as SAS or R
• Familiarity with Ontario and Canadian administrative databases (e.g., NDFP, OCR, ALR, DAD, NACRS, OHIP, etc.) and understanding of Ontario drug reimbursement frameworks, policies and systems preferred
• Project management experience in a research setting
• Experience in addressing both technical and non-technical audiences, provide clinical summaries proposals and analytic plans, research papers to policy stakeholders at academic conferences

Attributes

• Clear and concise oral and written communication skills
• Strong presentation skills
• Interpersonal skills demonstrating professionalism and cooperation in a team environment
• Strong attention to details
• Problem solving and critical thinking to develop options, new ideas, and recommendations
• Ability to work independently with demonstrated initiative and self-direction
• Commitment to continuous professional learning

Employment Type: Permanent Full Time

Job Posting Close Date: June 2, 2017

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