Biostatistician

Contract type: 2 year specific purpose

Post Summary

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) is Ireland's national study on ageing. TILDA's interdisciplinary team, including epidemiologists, biostatisticians, economists, social scientists, biomedical engineers, and clinicians, conducts this extensive study and disseminates its findings. The role of the Biostatistician is pivotal within the team, playing a crucial role in planning various research themes. This position presents a unique opportunity for an academic to advance their research career in a combined clinical and research setting, offering valuable knowledge and experience rarely available.

Key responsibilities

• Developing population weights for use in statistical analysis.
• Undertake advanced statistical analysis of the current data within the TILDA datasets.
• Provide statistical advice specific to longitudinal population studies.
• Deliver in-house workshops on advanced statistical methods.
• Write technical and wave reports.
• Assist in the dissemination of findings in high impact peer reviewed publications.
• Inform and advise on the design of future waves of data collection in TILDA.

The successful candidate will have dedicated time to pursue research in their given area using TILDA data for expanding their own publications, research, and grant applications.  Given the international work in this area they will be expected to liaise with and collaborate with other statisticians working in this field.

About TILDA

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a study based on a population-representative sample of >10000 community-dwelling individuals aged 50 and over. Each participant undergoes an interview in their home, fills in a self-completion questionnaire and is invited to undergo a detailed health assessment. Six waves of data collection are complete and the study is funded to carry out the further waves of data collection. The study is closely harmonized with leading international research. The domains captured from the TILDA study reflect the multi-factorial causes of successful ageing and their interactions. These include but are not limited to Economics, Health, Social relationships and Wellbeing.

Population ageing is one of the major challenges confronting both developed and developing countries, including Ireland. The number of people aged 65 years and over is estimated to have risen by over 40% between 2013 and 2023, from 569,000 to 806,000, and is expected to double again to 1.6 million by 2051.  While this represents a success story for socioeconomic development, it also presents major challenges associated with demographic change across health, economic and social systems.  Ageing is a complex process occurring at many different levels including social, psychological, physiological and cellular. Sociological and psychological ageing differ from, but are connected to, the processes of biological ageing, therefore it is critical that ageing research involves multidisciplinary teams of researchers. It is also important that ageing research is contextualised in terms of the social, economic, and physical environments in which it takes place. No single discipline can provide all of the knowledge and evidence necessary to either understand the ageing process or to develop responses to it. 

Further details of the post can be found on jobs.tcd.ie.

Informal enquires contact: Professor Cathal McCrory at mccrorc@tcd.ie

Find out more about TILDA www.tilda.ie

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