Visiting Research Data Scientist - Illinois Fire Service Institute

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Data Science

Urbana, IL, USA

Posted on Jul 3, 2026
Duties Responsibilities Data Management and Integration • Integrate, manage, and curate complex, multi-source datasets, including survey data, occupational and environmental exposure data, physiological measurements, biomarker and laboratory assay data, and clinical and longitudinal research data. • Develop and maintain secure, organized, and scalable data infrastructure for longitudinal research studies. • Design and maintain reproducible data pipelines, workflows, and comprehensive documentation. • Develop and maintain data dictionaries, codebooks, metadata documentation, and standard operating procedures. • Perform data cleaning, validation, quality control, and auditing procedures to ensure data integrity and consistency. • Coordinate data integration across multiple research platforms and collaborating institutions. • Establish reproducible analytical workflows using version control and best practices in computational research. Statistical Computational Analysis • Perform statistical analyses of longitudinal, repeated-measures, and complex observational datasets. • Apply advanced statistical, multivariate, and machine learning methods, including regression modeling, mixed-effects models, clustering, dimensionality reduction, predictive modeling, and classification algorithms. • Identify, model, and interpret relationships between occupational or environmental exposures and biological responses. • Address confounding, bias, and missing data using appropriate analytical approaches, sensitivity analyses, and model diagnostics. • Develop analytic strategies for biomarker, epidemiologic, and translational research studies. • Generate high-quality statistical summaries, figures, tables, and visualizations for scientific publications, presentations, and reports. • Assist investigators with interpretation and communication of analytical findings. Collaboration Research Support • Collaborate closely with investigators and multidisciplinary research teams to translate scientific questions into rigorous analytical plans. • Support preparation of manuscripts, conference abstracts, technical reports, and peer-reviewed publications. • Contribute to grant proposals through preliminary analyses, data visualization, and methodological input. • Participate in study meetings and scientific discussions regarding study design, analytical strategies, and interpretation of results. • Coordinate with laboratory personnel, statisticians, clinicians, and external collaborators regarding data transfer, formatting, and harmonization. • Ensure compliance with IRB requirements, HIPAA regulations, data-use agreements, institutional data governance policies, and human-subjects research protections. Data Systems Automation • Develop automated scripts and computational workflows to improve efficiency, reproducibility, and scalability of data processing and analysis. • Support maintenance and optimization of REDCap databases and related data management systems. • Build and maintain dashboards, reporting tools, and data visualization platforms as needed. • Implement version control and reproducible research practices using platforms such as Git/GitHub. • Assist in developing infrastructure for secure data storage, sharing, and collaborative analysis.