Chief Science Officer

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Location: Greater Washington, D.C. Area

Reports to: PCORI Executive Director

SUMMARY

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is seeking to recruit an experienced and creative scientific thought leader to serve as PCORI’s first Chief Science Officer.  The CSO is an executive position that reports directly to PCORI’s Executive Director, with responsibility for leading development and implementation of a transformational research agenda focused on patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research.  PCORI’s research must address questions of direct and immediate importance to patients, their caregivers and clinicians.  To achieve this vision, PCORI emphasizes involving patients and other key stakeholders in all aspects of the research process, including the identification and prioritization of research questions for funding.  Other novel aspects of the position include the opportunity to collaborate with PCORI’s distinguished 21-person, multi-stakeholder Board of Governors and 17-person Methodology Committee in creating, implementing and evaluating the research agenda and in disseminating its findings.

Candidates should have training and extensive experience in conducting and leading clinical research, clinical epidemiology and/or health services research, in evidence-based medicine and in translation of research into practice.  A record of creative thought leadership in research is of particular interest to PCORI.  Direct experience in conducting empirical research, either experimental or observational, and experience in conducting systematic reviews and evidence syntheses are highly desirable.

Together with the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Engagement Officer  and others, the CSO serves on PCORI’s leadership team. The CSO will have primary responsibility for recruitment, supervision and mentoring of PCORI scientific staff; for developing, promoting and implementing PCORI’s initial Research Agenda; for ensuring organizational learning from PCORI’s funded Research Program; and for refining the research agenda over time in response to input from patients and other stakeholders, to findings from PCORI-funded research, and to broader emerging issues in clinical decision-making. The CSO will also participate in studying and evaluating PCORI’s own processes for engaging patients and other stakeholders in the research enterprise.

The position is available immediately.

PCORI’s MISSION STATEMENT

PCORI’s mission is to help people make informed healthcare decisions and improve healthcare delivery and outcomes by producing and promoting high-integrity, evidenced-based information that comes from research guided by patients, caregivers, and the broader health care community.

PATIENT-CENTERED OUTCOMES RESEARCH

What will make PCORI unique among research organizations is expressed in the last phrase of its mission statement; “…….guided by patients, caregivers, and the broader healthcare community.” PCORI’s Board of Governors believes that engagement of patients and other stakeholders is essential to realize the Institute’s full potential to be a credible, trusted source of information for patients, caregivers, providers and others. From PCORI’s perspective, engagement extends well beyond the simple notion of securing input from a variety of stakeholders. PCORI intends to involve patients, caregivers, and other stakeholders in a true partnership of shared accountability and ownership of PCORI’s priorities, research agenda, and research questions, design, and processes. We believe that consensus development at the outset will help to increase acceptance and accelerate dissemination of PCORI’s work products. Stakeholder engagement, when coupled with a commitment to apply the highest standards of scientific rigor and integrity to its research, positions PCORI to be effective in identifying and filling important knowledge gaps confronting patients, clinicians, and policy makers. PCORI is committed to evaluating and documenting the results and effectiveness of its engagement efforts.

PCORI seeks to attract and retain a CSO who would be eager to work in its unique start-up environment and to recruit and oversee the team of PCORI scientists who will implement and sustain the Institute’s research vision. The team will include a wide range of expertise that can support a diverse portfolio of PCORI-funded research and ensure that it is conducted with scientific integrity.

PCORI CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER’S KEY RESPONSIBILITIES


  • Guides recruitment of PCORI’s scientific staff and leads the staff, in collaboration with committees of PCORI’s Board of Governors and Methodology Committee, in developing, expanding, and evaluating PCORI’s National Priorities for Research and PCORI’s Research Agenda.

  • Supervises Program Leaders in each of 5 Priority areas in development of broad as well as more specific PCORI Funding Announcements that solicit applications for PCORI-funded Research.

  • Works closely with the Methodology committee to support the committee’s work and to ensure that their guidance is obtained in implementing and evaluating PCORI’s research agenda.

  • Brings a patient-centered, public health perspective to developing and implementing PCORI’s Research Agenda and to funding PCORI research.

  • Convenes and participates in PCORI-sponsored advisory panels and workshops that include scientists, patients and other stakeholders, often in collaboration with the Methodology Committee to focus attention on critical questions in CER or to advance understanding of the methods or findings of patient-centered, comparative clinical effectiveness research.

  • Participates in multi-stakeholder Advisory Panels to review PCORI’s research agenda, its portfolio and the findings of PCORI-funded research, and to prioritize new research ideas.

  • Collaborates with PCORI’s Communications and Engagement teams in evaluating and improving the processes used by PCORI to engage stakeholder communities in the research and to disseminate study findings.

  • Contributes to the national dialogue on practical clinical and health services research through presentations and through contributions to the peer-reviewed scientific literature.


FIRST TWO YEARS’ MEASURES OF SUCCESS

  • PCORI will have funded an extensive portfolio of external research that is closely linked to its Research Agenda and clearly advances the science and knowledge base in comparative clinical effectiveness research

  • PCORI will be recognized as a leading organization in the development, funding and conduct of patient-centered outcomes research; for having developed clear and respected processes for engaging patients and other stakeholders in the rigorous peer review of research applications and in the generation and prioritization of research questions for funding; and for advancing the methods of patient-centered outcomes research, including evaluation of its own strategies and programs.

  • PCORI will be known as an institution that carefully evaluates and refines its approach to conducting patient-centered outcomes research.

  • PCORI will have developed ways to present scientific findings to the patient, caregiver and clinician communities in ways that build trust and encourage adoption and use of study findings.


REQUIRED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS & EDUCATION

  • Senior level researcher with doctoral-level training in a clinical and/or research discipline relevant to patient-centered outcomes research (e.g., medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, clinical epidemiology, health services research, public health); or a Master’s degree in one of these disciplines along with a professional clinical degree (e.g., medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, clinical psychology).

  • Distinguished record of research leadership, including experience building a successful research program, recruiting and mentoring of scientific staff, and a record of scientific contribution in a focused area of clinical or health services research.

  • A keen interest in working with patients and/or other stakeholders in the planning and conduct of patient-centered research.

  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, start-up environment.


 

FOR QUESTIONS OR TO APPLY

To learn more, please visit our website at www.pcori.org. Qualified candidates are invited to apply by sending a cover letter, resume and salary expectations to kevin.hicar@rhies.com. Please be sure to put the job title in the subject line of the email.

PCORI is an equal opportunity employer committed to cultural diversity in the workplace.


ABOUT PCORI

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) was authorized under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA). The purpose of the Institute is to assist patients, clinicians, purchasers, and policy-makers in making informed health decisions by advancing the quality and relevance of evidence gathered from comparative clinical effectiveness research and evidence synthesis. Hallmarks of PCORI studies are that they address practical questions faced by patients, caregivers and clinicians; that they are comparative; and that they study outcomes of importance to patients. PCORI is particularly interested in considering variations in effectiveness in patient sub-populations, and in the dissemination of its research findings.

PCORI spearheads efforts to prioritize and fund comparative effectiveness research (CER) using a largely stakeholder-driven process. This initiative builds upon the strong foundation laid in 2009 by the $1.1 billion in funding for CER in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

A broad range of entities are eligible to receive funding contracts, including federal agencies, academic institutions, private research organizations, and other for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including patient organizations, professional societies,  and health care delivery systems. The legislation calls for data collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to be made available to the Institute and its contractors; the Institute may request data from other federal, state, and private entities hosting patient registries and other databases.

A standing Methodology Committee has been established to lead efforts to identify and refine methodological standards for different types of CER study designs, such as pragmatic clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, and patient registries. The 17-member committee is composed of experts in comparative effectiveness methods, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, health services researchers, and other experts. The committee has released initial methodological standards for conducting CER. These standards must be adopted by PCORI’s Board of Governors after a public comment period and resulting revisions. The CSO will work closely with the Methodology Committee, consulting on methodologic issues related to research initiatives and supporting the committee in its deliberative work.

The Institute, along with the Methodology committee, will form a number of advisory panels to assist in establishing PCORI’s research agenda and in prioritizing research topics, and in developing and refining methodologic standards. These panels will include technical experts in clinical and health services research, health services delivery, evidence-based medicine, integrative medicine and primary care strategies as appropriate, along with patients, practicing and research clinicians, and representatives of other stakeholder groups. The Institute may also include technical experts from manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, or other medical technology

The Institute’s staff is led by the Executive Director, reporting to PCORI’s Board of Governors, which includes the directors of the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and representatives of patients, caregivers, consumers, physicians, nurses, hospitals, private payers, drug and device industries, and other federal and state health agencies. The Comptroller General of the United States has appointed members to the Board for initial terms of two to six years and has designated a chair and vice chair. Thereafter, all subsequent appointments are for six-year terms.

The Institute is funded through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (PCORTF), which will consist of the following funding streams: for 2010-2012, PCORI funding will amount to $210 million from general revenues; for 2013, PCORI funding will be general revenues of $150 million plus an annual $1 fee per Medicare beneficiary transferred from the Medicare Trust Fund plus a $1 fee per individual assessed on private health plans; for 2014-2019, PCORI funding will be general revenues of $150 million plus a $2 fee per Medicare beneficiary plus a $2 fee per privately insured individual. By 2015, total annual funding for the Institute will reach nearly $500 million. Each year, 20% of PCORI funding shall be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services to support AHRQ’s responsibilities under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, specifically referencing the Office of Communications and Knowledge Transfer.