MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Excellent interpersonal, organizational, time management and communication skills.
Ability to establish priorities and to handle multiple tasks.
Must be detail-oriented and have good observation skills. Should have a willingness to learn and use specialized techniques.
Demonstrated experience working in and fostering an environment of respect, professionalism and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from various backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a faculty/staff member at VCU.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

BS in biology, medical science, or related discipline and/or clinical research certification (such as CCRC).
Previous experience working in a laboratory.
Previous experience working in a clinical research setting.

PRIMARY PURPOSE AND GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Tissue and Data Acquisition and Analysis Core (TDAAC) is a shared research resource at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center that collects and banks tissue samples for cancer research and provides histology/pathology services and expertise to researchers and students. We are seeking a clinical research assistant to identify patients scheduled for cancer surgery, to obtain patient consents, and to help maintain the biorepository and TDAAC database. Under the supervision of the core director and laboratory manager, the assistant will serve our clients by following our standard procedures and policies. The assistant will be responsible for interfacing with patients to obtain their (in-person) consent for enrollment into the TDAAC biorepository. The assistant will help maintain the physical biorepository by organizing, labeling, and storing samples in accordance with the TDAAC IRB-approved protocol, as well as the TDAAC database by creating entries for new specimens, tracking consent status, and annotating the specimens with information found in medical records. The assistant will share the responsibility of submitting a list of priority specimens for collection to Anatomic Pathology each day. They will also work closely with the Massey Clinical Trials Office to facilitate proper transport of clinical trial specimens from the procedure room to Anatomic Pathology – this includes coordinating with clinical trial teams via emails, reviewing clinical trial protocols, and entering the procedure to retrieve research specimens. The assistant will interface with clients/investigators/clinical trial teams to provide excellent, timely service, keep detailed records of services provided via Smartsheet and Excel, and monitor inventory of supplies and place orders as needed. They will also assist with day-to-day lab operations. Such duties include monitoring liquid nitrogen levels for dewars and freezers and ordering new tanks when necessary, communicating with Pathologists to have new specimens reviewed, retrieving banked specimens from Anatomic Pathology, and monitoring Viewpoint to ensure that all temperature-sensitive units in the lab are operating within their normal ranges. This position will also require adherence to safety protocols and published Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), general equipment maintenance (including scheduling repairs and routine service), compliance with VCU Health System’s training requirements regarding sensitive data that contains personal health information, communication with researchers to ensure they have approved protocols in place before they receive any material from TDAAC, working with human tissue samples, and other duties as assigned.