Job Information
City of New York Cluster Analyst, Bureau of Tuberculosis Control in New York, New York
Job Description
Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live.
As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises from New York City’s yellow fever outbreak in 1822, to the COVID-19 pandemic we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs, and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy, and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.
Our Agency’s five strategic priorities, building off a recently-completed strategic planning process emerging from the COVID-19 emergency, are:
1) To re-envision how the Health Department prepares for and responds to health emergencies, with a focus on building a “response-ready” organization, with faster decision-making, transparent public communications, and stronger surveillance and bridges to healthcare systems 2) Address and prevent chronic and diet-related disease, including addressing rising rates of childhood obesity and the impact of diabetes, and transforming our food systems to improve nutrition and enhance access to healthy foods
3) Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness
4) Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women’s health
5) Mobilize against and combat the health impacts of climate change
Our 7,000-plus team members bring extraordinary diversity to the work of public health. True to our value of equity as a foundational element of all of our work, and a critical foundation to achieving population health impact in New York City, the NYC Health Department has been a leader in recognizing and dismantling racism’s impacts on the health of New Yorkers and beyond. In 2021, the NYC Board of Health declared racism as a public health crisis. With commitment to advance anti-racist public health practices that dismantle systems that perpetuate inequitable power, opportunity and access, the NYC Health Department continues to work in and with communities and community organizations to increase their access to health services and decrease avoidable health outcomes.
PROGRAM AND JOB DESCRIPTION:
The New York City (NYC) Bureau of Tuberculosis Control (BTBC) is committed to preventing the spread of tuberculosis (TB) and eliminating it as a public health problem in NYC. The core goals of the bureau are to identify all individuals with suspected or confirmed TB disease and ensure their appropriate treatment, ideally on directly observed therapy (DOT), and to ensure that individuals at high risk for progression from latent TB infection to TB disease complete treatment and do not develop disease. To fulfill its mission and goals, BTBC performs a number of integrated activities and provides patient-centered services in collaboration with local health care providers, laboratories, community partners and others. With a focus on public health and the needs of individuals with TB and their families, these activities support effective TB prevention and control. The Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology conducts surveillance of suspected and confirmed cases of TB; maintains the TB registry and case management system (Maven) of all TB cases, contacts to TB cases, persons suspected of having TB and children under 5 with latent TB infection (LTBI); conducts epidemiologic investigations to assess TB transmission in congregate settings; and conducts data analysis and research to describe the epidemiology of TB in NYC and to inform TB prevention and control policy.
The office also coordinates interjurisdictional transfers of TB patients to ensure continuity of TB evaluation, treatment, and care. We are seeking a City Research Scientist II to join our office as a Cluster Analyst. This person will operate as part of the Outbreak Detection and Response Team and conduct cluster investigation activities to identify, investigate, and respond to genotypic TB clusters and outbreaks. In addition, this person will assist with the coordination of TB whole genome sequencing data transfer, QA, and management both between BTBC and external lab partners as well as within the bureau. This individual will also analyze molecular epi data for programmatic purposes (to identify clusters and QA processes) and for research. We strongly encourage people to apply and contribute your diversity in thought, racial identity, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability status, veteran status, and/or LGBTQI+ status to enhance the work of the DOHMH and promote the health of all New Yorkers. We welcome applicants who share the vision for a city where all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, where they are from or where they live. DOHMH extends this vision of wellness by providing every member of our team and prospective job applicants dynamic benefits: Benefits - NYC Health, and a robust Worksite Wellness program with a wide range of offerings. As a current or prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. Please review the notice to see if you may be eligible for programs and how to apply at nyc.gov/studentloans.
DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
Process and monitor incoming WGS data into Maven using programs including but not limited to SAS, SQL, and Excel
Conduct cluster and outbreak investigations.
Liaise with external laboratory partners and colleagues to coordinate exchange of laboratory results and follow-up when issues are identified related to missing or inaccurate results.
Coordinate with the NYS Wadsworth laboratory WGS team and the CDC molecular epidemiology team and interface with the national TB genotyping management system (TBGIMS)
Conduct data analysis to support programmatic QA and research projects related to the use of whole genome sequencing for cluster and outbreak detection and the prediction of drug resistance.
Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
- For Assignment Level I (only physical, biological and environmental sciences and public health) A master's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological or environmental science or in public health.
To be appointed to Assignment Level II and above, candidates must have:
A doctorate degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and one year of full-time experience in a responsible supervisory, administrative or research capacity in the appropriate field of specialization; or
A master's degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and three years of responsible full-time research experience in the appropriate field of specialization; or
Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of specialization and at least two years of experience described in "2" above. Two years as a City Research Scientist Level I can be substituted for the experience required in "1" and "2" above.
NOTE:
Probationary Period
Appointments to this position are subject to a minimum probationary period of one year.
Additional Information
The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.