Research Assistant II, General Internal Medicine

About the role

The Research Assistant II (RA2) will participate in domestic research projects under the direction of project managers, senior managers/directors and Principal Investigators. The RA2 will be responsible for supporting the management of research studies focused on substance use and infectious disease in community, clinical, and carceral settings. Specifically, the RA will implement activities as part of multi-site research study developing, testing, and optimizing an academic detailing toolkit and intervention focused on providing Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to patients in the hospital who use drugs.

Responsibilities

• Supports administrative aspects of the research study, including managing program/participant records and handling communication needs of the program
• Schedules meetings involving the director, departmental staff, and individuals from other agencies; plans logistics for meetings
• Prepares presentations, notices, agendas and reports related to specific projects
• Assists in data collection and provides feedback on study's progress
• Recruits subjects to participate in the study using approved methodologies
• Conducts enrollment of study participants, including explaining research procedures, obtaining informed consent, and completing randomization procedures
• Schedules appointments of study participants; conducts reminder phone calls and/or sends mailouts
• Reviews data collection forms for completion and quality; checks work of junior staff performing data entry to ensure timely and accurate entry
• Provides technical guidance to junior staff
• Obtains and distributes participant reimbursements for participation
• Performs administrative duties associated with the study's safety monitor, tracking and reporting adverse events and collecting data specified by the lead site
• Supports preparation and maintenance of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approvals and correspondence, including amendments and renewals
• Conducts literature searches
• Assists Investigators with manuscript and presentation preparation and research
• Provides assistance in the development of reports, presentations, and data analysis
• Makes independent judgements of suitability of potential participants for clinical trials
• Develops and implements patient recruitment strategies
• Recommends changes to protocols and evaluates data
• Uses reference database software to incorporate and edit references into grants and manuscripts
• Records and distributes minutes at research- and clinical-oriented meetings
• Supports coordination process of research grant submissions; prepares narratives, budgets and tables as necessary
• Assists with reporting to NIH and other government agencies
• Maintains and updates Supervisors' CVs, bibliographies, and related documents
• Trains and orients new research assistants and other staff

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related discipline required; Master's degree a plus
• Bachelor's requires 1+ years of experience in research or clinical program activities; Master's degree, no work experience required
• Knowledge of medical terminology required
• Experience with recruiting subjects, with an understanding of the ethical and technical conduct of research
• Excellent English communication (oral and written) and interpersonal skills
• Cultural sensitivity and comfort with a wide range of social, racial and ethnic populations
• Excellent interpersonal skills needed to work with human subjects
• Bilingual or multi-lingual skills beyond English appropriate to the patient population served is a plus
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint
• Ability to perform basic data management tasks (coding, data entry, data cleaning, retrieval)
• Analytical skill and ability to resolve technical problems and interpret acceptability of data results
• Experience with statistical analysis tools and quantitative data analysis software (SPSS, SAS, Minitab) helpful

Pay

Compensation range $18.27–$25.72 per hour, based on Boston-area data and subject to modification based on geographic location.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Tuition reimbursement and tuition remission programs
• Highly subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance options
• Career advancement and professional development opportunities
• Access to ongoing training and development especially for individuals pursuing careers in medicine or biomedical research
• Engagement in groundbreaking research projects driving biomedical science