Research Specialists

Research Specialists in the Division of Epidemiology support applied research at the intersection of healthcare, artificial intelligence, and data analysis. The primary focus includes large language model (LLM) and machine learning model evaluation/deployment, clinical data pipeline development, and natural language processing (NLP)-based chart abstraction using publicly available data (e.g., MIMIC-IV) and protected data from University of Utah Health and the Veterans Health Administration within secure computing environments (UofU CHPC and VA VINCI).

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and optimize data processing pipelines for clinical and research datasets using Python and SQL.
• Assist with the design, training, and evaluation of machine learning models applied to healthcare problems.
• Support research workflows within established Linux-based environments under technical supervision.
• Conduct exploratory data analysis and prepare visualizations and summary reports for research collaborators.
• Contribute to manuscript preparation, documentation, and reproducible research practices.
• Collaborate with clinical and research faculty, staff, and other trainees.
• Work within secure, access-controlled computing environments (e.g., VA VINCI, CHPC) following data governance and compliance requirements.

Requirements

• Completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree (or currently enrolled in a Master’s degree) in computing, data science, applied mathematics, medical/health informatics, or a closely related discipline.
• Intermediate to advanced proficiency in Python and SQL.
• Experience applying NLP or machine learning methods to real-world datasets (e.g., clinical text, scientific text, or similarly complex unstructured data).
• Intermediate to advanced experience working independently in a Linux environment (shell scripting, package management, user and service configuration).
• Ability to execute defined tasks independently while receiving structured requirements and technical guidance.
• Availability to attend on-site meetings or work in person for part of the scheduled time.
• Eligibility for a VA appointment to access VA research systems (e.g., VINCI); eligibility may be limited based on citizenship or visa status.

Qualifications

For Research Specialist, II: Requires a bachelor’s degree (or equivalency) plus 4 years of directly related work experience, or a master’s degree (or equivalency) plus 2 years of directly related work experience. One year of higher education can substitute for one year of directly related work experience.

Skills

• Preferred experience using or modifying machine learning models such as decision trees, Bayesian models, deep learning architectures, transformers, or LLMs.
• Familiarity with healthcare data standards (e.g., SNOMED CT, LOINC, RxNorm) or electronic health record systems.
• Experience with version control (Git/GitHub) and collaborative software development practices.
• Experience in writing and publishing scientific or technical work in peer-reviewed papers, whitepapers, technical articles, or blogs.

Benefits

Learn more about the benefits of working for University of Utah at benefits.utah.edu.

Pay

$14.38 - $27.87 per hour. The department may hire at any of the job levels and associated pay rates based on business need and budget.

Submit a link to your GitHub repository or portfolio of technical work and writing (peer-reviewed papers or other technical/scientific articles, blogs, etc.) is strongly preferred. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.