Data Manager

Sartaj Alam

Boston, MA *****

*********@*****.***

Phone: (617) 792- 3883

Professional Summary

I have over ten years of work experience as senior manager, senior statistician, research engineer and programmer.

Design, implement, manage and monitoring of all phases of clinical trials, translational and evidence based research projects, big data analytics using advanced statistical methods,. Translating business requirements into technical specifications.

Worked with medical devices and pharmaceutical instruments in collaboration with Roche, J&J, and MD Anderson Cancer Center in areas of oncology, nephrology and chronic diseases such as CVD and diabetes.

Developed and deployed high-impact strategies and methodologies, including Lean Six Sigma with big data analytics, to optimize patient experience and operations at hospitals and health insurance programs.

Data acquisition, data processing and statistical computing; Power calculations, and cost effectiveness analysis. Statistical modeling and analysis of hierarchical, multilevel and repeated measure structures. Quality control, quality assurance and process improvement with SPC and six-sigma methods.

Skilled in data augmentation, data analytics and dissemination in pharmaceutical, clinical, behavioral and operational sciences.

Use statistical applications such as SAS, STATA, SPSS, PASS, SQL, Fusion Tables, Google Refine, and other assistive software such as MatLab, Microsoft Access and Excel.

Perform reliability analysis, accident and failure investigations; worked as investigation and safety officer in preventive maintenance for aircraft engine rotary components and aviation fuel pumps. I am a good team player, proficient statistician, and researcher.

Education

Research fellowship as Statistician at Center for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, GA - USA (2010 – 2011).

MS Biostatistics: University of Texas, Health Science Center, Houston, TX - USA (2009)

Training fellowship at Cancer Medicine, General Internal Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Houston, TX - USA (2009)

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Certification, NED University (2002)

Microsoft Certified Solution Developer; Microsoft Technical Education (MSTEC) (1998)

BS in Aerospace and Environmental Engineering with distinction, College of Aeronautical Engineering, NED University (1992)

Professional Experience

Senior Research Statistician and Data Manager, Harvard Medical School, Boston – MA (2015 - )

Work as data manager, my responsibilities encompass data archiving, data versioning and data processing. Employing cutting edge data handling tools for data acquisition, integration and analysis for all types of data necessary to support research, clinical, therapeutics and health policy.

In the capacity of research statistician, I support our team in research areas such as longitudinal, survival analysis, multilevel and hierarchical modeling, and clustered structures & mixed effect logit models.

Publications and abstracts in areas such as statistical methods in comparative effectiveness, valuation of policy interventions and evidence based research. Published manuscripts related to chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, obesity and HIV in global health concentration.

Senior Manager, Statistical Methodology, US. IMS Health®, Plymouth Meeting – PA (2014 - )

Managed, developed and validated new statistical methodologies for new as well as existing products/clients.

Found new ways to improve all patient interactions, from initial visit, admission, service, patient education, post-operative care, and discharge. Performed and supervise study designs, statistical methodologies and research plans. Develop study proposals, implementation and execution of research projects. Perform statistical analysis and simulation to compare new methods with existing gold standards. Perform big data analytics and QC checks using SAS and Stata statistical software, processing large databases to provide meaningful insights in order to optimize the outcomes as part of business contracts. Represent the company in business meetings with the clients.

Senior Research Statistician: Texas Children Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston – TX (2011 – 2014 )

Provide consultancy in design clinical trials and health outcomes studies; responsible for statistical integrity, adequacy and accuracy of the projects. Developed and deployed high-impact strategies and methodologies, including Lean Six Sigma and big data analytics, to optimize patient experience and operations at hospital ER. Develop sampling strategies and data collection methodologies; perform power analysis and sample size calculations. Undertake statistical data preparation, scalability and data modeling; implement QC/QA, statistical process control (SPC) and quality improvement (QI) initiatives. Performed complex statistical analysis in areas of asthma, trauma, submersion, evidence based outcomes research, emergency medicine performance and safety. Teach statistical methods to research fellows and research associates class at Baylor Medical College. Provide consultancy to Pediatric emergency medicine faculty, fellows and residents on study design, sampling strategy, data acquisition and statistical methods. Provide leadership role in financial management and fiscal health of clinical units.

Senior Research Statistician: Pioneer Public Health Consultants, USA, Houston – TX (2012 – 2014)

As a pioneer research member since 2012, I helped the organization to establish a global research team under umbrella organization PPHC, USA. I provided managerial leadership and financial supervision in keeping the fiscal health of the organization intact at its inception. I collaborated with public and private organizations to offer innovative and up-to-date research services on various global issues including health outcomes research.

Senior Data Analyst & Statistician: MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston – TX (2009, 2011)

I designed and analyzed oncology trials and clinical studies during my work at MD Anderson Cancer Hospital. As statistical analyst, I got the opportunity to collaborate with the pharmaceutical company Roche to manage and analyze the database for Nutlin-3a study, a phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trial. Nutlin-3a is an MDM2-p53 interaction antagonist that is under investigation in preclinical models for a variety of pediatric malignancies.

Developed and maintained databases for cancer patients admitted to MD Anderson Cancer Center. Performed statistical analysis and assisted principal investigator in manuscript writing and grand proposal. Developed new methodologies for early prediction of cancer related complications with the help of biomarkers within the scope of research.

Data Manager/Statistician: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta – GA (2010 – 2011)

Analyzed multi-stage cluster survey datasets stratified by country, urbanization and gender etc. to achieve valid and region-specific estimates for Asia, Europe and Africa. Performed data management, data extraction, transformation and data merge across multiple platforms using mobile devices. Validated reports and fact-sheets across participating countries in the program

Data management Analyst: Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Research Design (BERD), Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS), Houston – TX (July 2008 – Aug 2010)

Center of Excellence for Diabetes Care. PI: Joseph McCormick

Directly contributed in Center of Excellence for Diabetes Care, a cluster based cohort study to test and develop effective intervention strategies for diabetes prevention in Brownsville, Texas. I performed database management, data integration and augmentation to develop analytic datasets using SAS. Statistical methods used are generalized mixed models, generalized estimating equation and svy-reg algorithms.

Tu Salud Si Cuenta: A Community Based Intervention for active living and health diet for Mexican American, PI: Belinda Reininger

Intervention focuses on changes in food choices and physical activity levels to help community members for implementation of recommended behavior change strategies. Assisted in developing statistical methodology and wrote statistical method of grand proposal. Power and sample size calculations were performed and randomization / minimization allocation schedules were developed.

Social Cogitative Disaster Preparedness Communications for Mexican-Americans, PI: Belinda Reininger

The specific aims of the project were medical needs assessment such as life support and to identify the special population within Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy Counties in South Texas. I developed multi-stage cluster sampling survey design and analyzed data based on raking algorithm and formulated report as part of internship agreement. (download)

Graduate Research Assistant: University of Texas at Houston – TX (Jan 06 – Dec 08)

Assisted all five regional campuses of UT in systematic reviews and literature search; providing access to online databases, catalogs, e-books and journals; E-Content and Recourse sharing using ILLiad and Voyager from OCLC and Docline databases.

Flight Safety Office: Air Safety Board, Directorate of Air Safety (2002-05)

Developed dedicated database management product using MS Access to track and monitor aircraft system defects. Data collection, analysis and inference was achieved to forecast trends and crash prevention using SPSS statistical software.

Software Center for Automation and Data Management (SCADM): Software Simulation Developer-II (1997-2002)

Involved in extensive research and analysis in simulation software development and validation; Designed and developed simulation software using Euler’s angles algorithm. Used MS Visual Basic as simulation front-end and Object Oriented Programming was implemented in JAVA as backend. Hardware integration was achieved by developing prototype for real time simulation. Developed and commissioned Mirage-V Aircraft Simulator with the help of self developed code. Microsoft Visual Basic was used as development platform with C. Simulator was commissioned after successful tests and is still in use by client.

Maintenance and Systems Engineer: F-16 Aircraft, Engineering Depot: (1992–1997)

Managed and Maintained F-16 aircraft systems and components repair. Extensively involved in R&D, component modifications, testing and validation. F100-PW200 engine subsystems were inspected, repaired and overhauled.

Department of Aerospace Technologies, College of Aeronautical Engineering - R&D (1992)

As a student, designed and developed “semi-automated runway marking machine” which won the best project design and was accepted for mass production for aircraft runway markings.

Publications and Presentations

Esther M Sampayo, MD MPH; Despina Tsevdos; Sartaj R Alam, MS MSCE; Joseph J Zorc, MD; Pediatricians Support Initiation of Asthma Controller Medications in the Emergency Department: A National Survey. PCARE-D-14-00063R1 Pediatric Emergency Care (Accepted, in press)

RP. Shenoi, AT. Cruz, S. Alam, J Fraser. Outcomes of childhood swimming-pool submersions in a metropolitan area. (Pediatrics, In press)

Sartaj A Raja, MS MCSE; Gul Nowshad, MBBS, MPH, PhD; Ruhit P. Shenoi, MD; Indoor Air Quality and Environmental Contaminants as Predictors to Trigger Asthma in Early Childhood. A National Survey. Journal of Asthma, Jan, 2014 (In press).

Daniel Rubalcava, Sartaj Alam. Profiling pediatric trauma deaths in a metropolitan area in an effort to improve the rate of preventable deaths. # 753370 The Pediatric Academic Societies, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2014.

Paul Mullan, Sartaj Alam, Charles G. Macias, Deborah Hsu, Binita Patel. Implementation and Evaluation of a Standardized Briefing Checklist at Shift Handoff in a Pediatric Emergency Department. (Pediatrics, in press)

Kapoor R, Sandoval M, Avendano L, Alam S, Soto MA, Crouse HL. Regional scale-up of an emergency triage assessment and treatment (ETAT) training program from a referral hospital to primary care centers in Guatemala. (Journal of Emergency Medicine, in press)

Jared Rubenstein, Sartaj Alam, Mary Rocha. Assessment of Medical Student Communication During Family-Centered Rounds: A randomized controlled trial. 2014 Pediatric Fellows’ College Scholarship Symposium.

B. Reininger, S. Raja, A. Carrasco, Z. Chen, B. Adams, J. McCormick, M. Rahbar. Intention to comply with mandatory hurricane evacuation orders among persons living along a Coastal area. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, Spring-2013

Ayass. M. A, Alam S, Nowshad G. Prevalence and risk factors for thromboembolic events in adult outpatient population. Journal of blood disorder & transfusion, 2013, 4:5, 10.4172/2155-9864. S1. 002

Nowshad G, Alam S, Ayass M A. Asthma’s Correlation with Pro-thrombotic Bio-markers (Factor VIII activity) accepted for ATS conference, San Diego, May 16- 21, 2014

Ayass. M, Alam S, Nowshad G. “Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Autoimmune Disorders”, submitted to SLEEP, 2014.

Nowshad G, Ayass. M. A, Alam S. “Prevalence and Risk Factors for Asthma in Adult Outpatient Population at a lung clinic”, presented at Asthma coalition meeting at CHEST, Chicago, 2013.

Ayass M A, Alam S, Nowshad G. The novel insights into associations of immunoglobulin with asthma in adult patients submitted to American College Of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Meeting 2013.

Ayass. M. A, Alam S, Nowshad G. “Prevalence and risk factors for thromboembolic events in adult outpatient population”, presented at International Conference on Hematology & Blood Disorders, September 23-25, 2013 at Raleigh, USA.

G.. Nowshad, S. Alam, Pankaj Shah, Victor Lavis, A.K. Salahudeen. The Incidence of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Admitted to a Comprehensive Cancer Care Center. Cancer, (in press)

G Nowshad, S Alam, AK Salahudeen, “Diabetic medication and its association with mortality in hospitalized cancer patients” ISPOR 15th Annual International Meeting, May, 2010, Atlanta, GA.

S. Alam, G. Nowshad, Victor Lavis, M.H. Rahbar. Early prediction and prevention of acute kidney injury (AKI) with serum creatinine as biomarker. EORTC – NCI – ASCO Annual Meeting on ‘Molecular Markers in Cancer’ Cancer Research 2011.

G. Nowshad, S. Alam, M.H. Rahbar. A unified approach to define incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) with serum creatinine as biomarker. Volume 7, Issue 4, Page 26, October 2009 PII: S1359-6349(09)72195-0

Sartaj Alam, Statistical and methodological challenges for medical needs assessment in Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Paper AAI1470210. January, 2010. TMC digital commons library(Online via ProQuest)

Gavin Wagenheim, Sartaj Alam. Mortality in Patients with Unilateral and Bilateral Femur Fractures (in press)

Gulshan Bano, Sartaj Alam, Gul Nowshad, Syed M Shah. Prevalence and correlates of central obesity among women in rural South Asian Community. 11th International Congress on Obesity 11 - 15 July 2010 Stockholm, Sweden.

Sartaj Alam, Belinda Reininger, M.H. Rahbar. Self Perceived Quality of Life (SP-QOL) in an Impoverished Mexican-American Community in Texas along the U.S.-Mexican Border. AcademyHealth June 28-30, 2009.

Justin Broyles, Gavin Wagenheim, Sartaj Alam, Catherine Ambrose, Milan Sen. A High Ratio of Fresh Frozen Plasma to Packed Red Blood Cells Significantly Decreases Mortality in Femur Fracture Patients Requiring Massive Transfusion. Journal of Orthopedic Trauma.

Patrick R. Ireland, Belinda M. Reininger, Sartaj Alam, Joseph A. Zavaletta. General Life Satisfaction in a Barrio on the U.S./Mexico Border: The Influence of Objective and Subjective Factors. (In press)

Belinda Reininger, Sartaj Alam, M. H. Rahbar, Joseph McCormick. Social Capital and Cultural fabric in predominantly Hispanic population in Rio Grande Valley of Texas; some statistical aspects (In press)

Sartaj Alam, A.K. Salahudeen, M.H. Rahbar. Serum creatinine as biomarker in Acute Kidney injury (AKI). European Journal of Cancer Volume 7, Issue 4, (October 2009)

Monolog: Study shows nearly a 5% decline in mortality rates for unilateral, bilateral femur fractures. Orthopedicstoday

Honors & Awards

Honorarium by International Biometric Society to participate at ENAR Biostatistics Conference, New Orleans, LA – March 21-24, 2010

Our Abstract won the Henry Christian Award at AFMR Regional Annual Meeting 2010, Washington DC – April 5, 2010

Joint Scholarship by School of Public Health and Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences to present at Academy Health Conference, Chicago, IL – Jun 28-Jul 01, 2009

SAS scholarship for Educational Forum SCSUG 2008, University of Houston – October, 2008

Recipient of the NIGH award at Global Health Council (GHC) 34th Annual International Conference Washington D.C. May 29 - June 1, 2007

Scholarship award by the SPH, University of Texas for presentation “Malnutrition among female population in Himalaya, determinants and prevention”, UTHSC at Houston; April, 2007

International Scholar, 2nd Congress of Epidemiology Conference; Seattle, WA, June 22-26, 2006. Scholarship by University of Texas for participation at the conference.

Awarded Merit Certificate for Distinguished Student by College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, R Pindi; Aug, 1994

Certificate of Merit for best performance in F-16 aircraft and F-100 engine maintenance; 1995

Honor Roll: College of Aeronautical Engineering (CAE) - Academics; June, 1992

Award of Gold Medal for overall first position in BE, College of Aeronautical Engineering (CAE); June, 1992

Certificate of Merit for best Aerospace engineering project; June, 1992

Award of Scholarship (all expenses included) for four consecutive years by College of Aeronautical Engineering 1988 – 1992

Volunteer Work Experience

Participated in various educational and professional conferences.

Successfully completed National Institutes of Health (NIH), Web-based training course “Protecting Human Research Participants”. December, 2008.

Worked on online national electronic databases such as Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results, data for comparative studies in diabetes among cancer patients and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive, a national level preeminent database on the subject.

Participated in tobacco eradication program on village by village basis in Himalayan valleys of Punial, Yasin and Ishkomin (2004)

Other Qualifications

Design surveys and clinical studies; perform randomization, power calculations and statistical analysis as research statistician in Emergency Medicine, Children’s Hospital, Houston. Teach Biostatistics and Epidemiology to MD research fellows.

Develop programs for data acquisition, data management and analysis for clinical, translational and health services research (HSR).

Research fellowship as Statistician/Data Manager at Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Managed and performed medical needs assessment research; surveyed over 3000 households and analyzed data (download).

Developed and analyzed database for over five thousand cancer patients admitted to MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.

Assisted principal investigators in grant applications and manuscript preparation at Texas Children’s Hospital and Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS), Health Science Center at Houston since 2008.

Developed new methodology to predict early complications in cancer patients with creatinine as biomarker.

Computer skills: Data management/warehousing, mining, and statistical analysis by SAS, STATA, SPSS and R. Sample size and power analysis by PASS, SAS, PS, and others.

Programming languages used: C, Objective C, Python / JAVA, Visual Basic, FORTRAN, Dreamweaver 8.0 and HTML.

Standards & Guidelines: Object Oriented Programming, J2SE, UML.

Systems analyst, hardware/software solutions and troubleshooting.

Detail-oriented and a good team player

Affiliations

American Statistical Association since 2009

International Biometric Society since 2009

American Federation for Medical Research 2009

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) 2009

American Public Health Association – 2009

Academy Health – 2008

Global Health Council – 2007

Other skills

Analytic approach, quality conscious and problem solving aptitude; ability to improve system performance and effectiveness within given time and resources.

Envision, design and implement tools that enhance performance and reliability of the project.

Install, test and support software systems, anticipate and resolve hardware / software conflicts.

Contact this candidate