Research Assistant

at  Johns Hopkins University

The Division of Affective Disorders is seeking a Research Assistant to aid with research studies related to support clinical research programs. The Research Assistant will work directly with the Principal Investigators and other RMHC staff in executing study protocols.

SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES

• Interest in women’s mental health.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to interact with clinical research participants in a professional manner.
• Ability to interact with faculty and staff on research teams, in clinical programs, and with educational outreach initiatives.
• Attention to detail, e.g. when entering or checking data, and proofreading documents.
• Excellent time management skills, e.g. completing tasks by given deadlines, responding to study participants in a timely manner, and submitting IRB or NIH documents by stated deadlines.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills to communicate effectively within and outside the department.
• Excellent organizational skills to work in an environment that requires managing assignments across multiple research protocols.
• Skilled in computer programs such as Microsoft Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and Publisher.
• Experience with data entry and/or analysis; familiarity with platforms such as RedCap, Qualtrics, SPSS, SAS, Stata, and/or R.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to stand, walk, or sit for an extended period of time.
• Reaching by extending hand(s) or arm(s) in any direction.
• Finger dexterity required to manipulate objects with fingers rather than with whole hand(s), or arm(s), for example, using a keyboard.
• Communication skills using the spoken word.
• Ability to see within normal parameters.
• Ability to hear within normal range.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in related discipline.
• Additional related experience may substitute for required education, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s Degree in related discipline.
• Some clinical or research experience in a related discipline such as Psychology or Public Health. Some related research experience in child, adolescent, and/or young adult populations.
  Classified Title: Research Assistant
  Role/Level/Range: ACRO40/E/03/CD
  Starting Salary Range: $17.20 - $30.30 HRLY ($41,340 targeted; Commensurate with experience)
  Employee group: Full Time
  Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm
  Exempt Status: Non-Exempt
  Location: School of Medicine Campus
  Department name: SOM Psy Affect Disorders and Psych Genet
  Personnel area: School of Medicine

• Support PIs and other research staff in all aspects of a busy clinical research center.
• Maintain a thorough understanding of assigned research studies to implement and execute research protocols.
• Assist with preparing reports for weekly team meetings.
• Participate in meetings to provide operational updates, report on issues, and make recommendations for resolutions.
• Develop research participant recruitment campaigns with the RMHC team; assist with participant recruitment through various media sources and monitor and respond to social media recruitment campaigns.
• Conduct telephone/videoconference screens of potential participants; schedule participant appointments and send reminders and questionnaires to participants.
• Prepare for participant visits, including questionnaires, and sample collection devices.
• Process and ship participant samples (e.g. blood, saliva).
• Reimburse participants for their time.
• Maintain appropriate storage of participant biological samples (e.g. blood, saliva, stool), including keeping an organized inventory of research freezer space, ensuring samples are stored in a safe manner and that research freezers are appropriately operated and maintained. Monitor freezer alerts and assist if freezers malfunction or fail.
• Maintain knowledge of the study protocol and reporting requirements, including updates to the IRB Regulatory Binder.
• Submit IRB documents for studies in a timely manner, including new protocol applications, Changes in Research, and Continuing Reviews. Monitor upcoming Continuing Review deadlines to ensure timely submission.
• Perform data entry. Monitor for completeness of data entry for each participant. Perform daily and weekly data checking and quality assurance according to study team protocols.
• Assist with maintaining master research databases, e.g. in RedCap. Utilize RedCap online designer to create new data collection instruments, or edit existing projects as needed.
• Maintain up-to-date tracking and data for necessary periodic or annual reports, including annual NIH Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR), and biannual National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive (NDA) data submissions; assist with submission of these reports.
• Enter staff reimbursements into SAP/Concur.
• Monitor inventory of study supplies and order new supplies when necessary.
• Submit vendor invoices for study supplies.
• Perform the following functions under supervision after thorough training (provided): Performing venipuncture on the participants to collect blood samples; Collecting vital signs; Administering clinical assessments to research participants such as the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) Structured Clinical Interview for the SCID DSM V, Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), and other ratings according to protocols.
• Assist with administrative duties as requested by the PIs, including preparation of abstract, paper, and poster submissions.
• Perform miscellaneous related duties as assigned by the research program coordinator, manager, and PIs.

Data Management and Analysis

• Maintain study records in an organized manner.
• Train and supervise students or interns on data management.
• Develop and maintain research databases.
• Data cleaning and organization.
• Assist with analyzing results and compiling findings.

Publication/Presentation/Grant Preparation Support

• Support PI in preparing PowerPoint presentations, publications, progress reports, and grant applications emanating from this research.