Research Assistant

at  Western University

ABOUT WESTERN

Since 1878, Western University has been committed to serving our communities through the pursuit of academic excellence and by providing students, faculty, and community members with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social, and cultural growth. We seek excellent students, faculty, and staff to join us in what has become known as the “Western Experience” - an opportunity to contribute to a better world through the development of new knowledge, new abilities, new connections, and new ways to make a difference.

ABOUT US

The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics’ mission is health equity across the life course from local to global communities. The Department is committed to developing, applying and teaching the highest standard of epidemiological and biostatistical methods. Through education, scholarship, service and advocacy, we strive for transformative impact on population health, clinical outcomes, and health services research to inform policy and interventions. The Department of Epidemiology has a significant academic mission, research profile, and large graduate & undergraduate program.

Research Assistant – Indigenous midwifery and obstetric evacuation
The project, “Assessing the Economic Costs of Obstetric Evacuation” is an interdisciplinary, Indigenous, mixed methods research project, led by Dr. Jennifer Leason and Dr. Ava John-Baptiste. The overall aim of this project is to examine the health outcomes and costs of obstetric evacuation and Indigenous midwifery delivered in rural, urban and remote communities. The project will inform best practices on how to support First Nation, Métis and Inuit mothers, infants and communities throughout their pregnancy, birth, postpartum and early months of parenthood.

The Research Assistant will work under the leadership of the project co-leads and will be responsible for the following:

• Conduct all research activities in a manner that is consistent with the principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession OCAP® as specified by the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC).
• Assist with a systematic review of the literature to identify evidence on the costs of obstetric evacuation and the cost-effectiveness of Indigenous midwifery. Perform screening of abstracts, full-text manuscripts, abstraction of data and verification of data abstraction.
• Support secondary data analysis by assisting with preparation of research protocols, dataset creation plans and analytic plans.
• Assist with preparation of presentation materials (tables, figures, manuscripts and other visual presentations) related to the project.
• Assist with the design of data collection instruments including patient and provider questionnaires.
• Assist with preparation of ethics applications and other forms.
• Liaise with the research team, stakeholders and community partners.
• Assist with model-based geographical analyses, cost analyses and decision analyses.