Research Fellow, EnRICH Lab

at  SickKids

ABOUT SICKKIDS

Dedicated exclusively to children and their families, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is one of the largest and most respected paediatric healthcare centres in the world. As innovators in child health, we lead and partner to improve the health of children through the integration of healthcare, leading-edge research and education. Our reputation would not have been built – nor could it be maintained – without the skills, knowledge and experience of the extraordinary people who come to work here every day. SickKids is committed to ongoing learning and development, and features a caring and supportive work environment that combines exceptionally high standards of practice.
When you join SickKids, you become part of our community. We share a commitment and determination to fulfill our vision of Healthier Children. A Better World.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to work alongside the world’s best in paediatric healthcare.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Clinical Trial Methods RareKids-CAN
The Enhancing Research Impact in Child Health (EnRICH) lab in Child Health and Evaluative Sciences at the Hospital for Sick Children is seeking a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. The work of the EnRICH Research Group and Network aims to enhance child health through the discovery and implementation of innovative methods that transform the way we design, conduct, and report child health clinical research. The successful candidate possesses and applies highly advanced scientific knowledge of innovative research principles, pediatric clinical trials, theories, and concepts in the field of rare disease clinical trial methodology and outcome measurement. They will be supervised by Dr. Martin Offringa, a paediatric clinical epidemiologist. The EnRICH lab plays a key role in RareKids-CAN: Pediatric Rare Disease Clinical Trials and Treatment Network, a new platform dedicated to building an infrastructure to advance clinical trials and access to treatment for children with rare diseases in Canada. RareKids-CAN is a coalition of diverse national and international experts, researchers, industry partners, research networks, patient-partners, and patient partner organizations pooling their collective knowledge and experience in the pediatric rare disease community. The Network is grant funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for 5 years with the intention to build a self-sustaining network beyond the grant funding.
The Post-Doctoral Research Fellow will primarily work on methods projects as part of the RareKids-CAN consortium and will contribute to cutting-edge research projects focused on advancing methodologies for the design, implementation, and analysis of clinical trials in pediatrics with a specific focus on rare diseases.

• Conduct a systematic scoping review of modern rare disease trial methods literature and existing web-based rare disease research platforms and networks from other jurisdictions.
• Conduct focus groups/individual interviews with international research network methodologists in this field.
• Establish a central trial methods hub for clinical trial developers in Canadian for pediatric rare diseases.
• Evaluate meaningful, valid, and reliable primary clinical outcome assessment (COA) and outcome measurement instruments in partnership with rare disease patient organizations and patient/family partners.
• Conduct consultations with study teams both in academia and industry using the appropriate application of innovative study designs such as platform trials, basket trial master protocols (i.e., different diseases being treated with similar agents, e.g., use of the same gene transfer vector with standardized evaluation of adverse events), adaptive designs, individual step-wedge designs, N-of-1 designs.
• Keep abreast of emerging trends and advancements in clinical trial methodology and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge through publications, presentations, and workshops.
• Mentor graduate students and junior team members, as well as collaborate with other researchers and stakeholders within and outside the organization.
• Apply scientific creativity and knowledge of innovative research principles, theories, and concepts, notably around child health clinical (drug) trials designs for rare diseases, including the development, testing, and implementation of measurement instruments for child health outcomes and N-of-1 trial methodology.
• Review and prepare peer reviewed scientific manuscripts and grant proposals.
• Assist the PI in preparing reviews of others’ grant application and manuscripts as appropriate.