Research Associate in Pharmacoepidemiology and Data Linkage

About Us

An exceptional opportunity has arisen for a highly skilled statistician, public health researcher or epidemiologist with an interest in pharmaco-epidemiology, drug safety and data linkage to provide crucial support to the UK-Irish Atopic eczema Systemic TherApy Register (A-STAR).

A-STAR is a flagship observational register of adult and paediatric patients receiving systemic medication for atopic eczema under the leadership of Professor Carsten Flohr, Chair in Dermatology and Population Health Sciences at King's College London.

Find out more information about the A-STAR project here: https://ppopderm.org/project/a-star/

A-STAR’s main objectives are to study the treatment effectiveness, safety and cost of systemic immuno-modulatory therapies, both conventional immuno-suppressive drugs but also novel biologics and small molecules. The study is now open in 65 sites across the UK and Ireland. To fulfil its full potential, A-STAR needs a robust data analysis strategy and data linkage with national healthcare data providers.

These include Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), mortality, and NCRS (National Cancer Registry Service) such as by NHS Digital in England, for long-term follow up.  The data from data linkage will supplement the data that is acquired via the A-STAR platform in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of each participant’s health.

The A-STAR team already has a senior statistician and junior and senior data managers, and this post will provide additional dedicated expertise and support to facilitate the data analyses, linkage, and pharmaco-epidemiological activities.

For further information about this position, please contact Professor Carsten Flohr, A-STAR Chief Investigator; carsten.flohr@kcl.ac.uk.

About the role

This role involves a range of responsibilities across data management, pharmacovigilance, and administrative support within the A-STAR programme. Key duties include data cleaning and analysis of linked data, such as running regular cleaning queries to ensure the quality and consistency of data, identifying areas where additional cleaning is required, and assisting with data cleaning prior to analysis and company report generation, with support from A-STAR data managers. The postholder will also prepare Data Monitoring Committee outputs and other pharmacovigilance reports, and contribute to pharmaco-epidemiological analyses relating to drug safety and effectiveness under the supervision of the A-STAR Senior Research Fellow.

Responsibilities also encompass data processing and linkage, including collating, entering, and updating study information onto the A-STAR database, and supporting the establishment of data linkage in collaboration with NHS Digital under senior supervision. Regular updates on data processing activities will be presented to the wider A-STAR team. Pharmacovigilance duties include processing events received from data linkage, ensuring that all serious adverse events (SAEs) are identified and claimed, reviewing and coding adverse events (AEs) using MedDRA terminology, managing duplicates appropriately, and handling additional clinical information received via Events of Special Interest forms and related communications. The role also involves supporting reporting processes, such as sending and filing SAE reports and receipts.

Additional responsibilities include proficiency in MedDRA coding and coding comorbidities using ICD-10, contributing to governance through maintaining and adhering to A-STAR pharmacovigilance SOPs, and effective communication with clinicians and companies to obtain further information where needed. Broader duties involve attending and presenting at meetings and conferences, supporting data monitoring site visits when required, and adhering to all relevant University and Trust policies.

This is a full-time role (35 hours per week) offered on a fixed-term contract for one year.

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