Clinical Research Assistant - Bilingual Spanish

Position Summary
The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences conducts studies examining the effects of maternal and child environmental exposures (e.g., stress/trauma, chemicals/toxins, caregiving quality) on children’s developmental outcomes (e.g., stress physiology, mental and physical health, neurodevelopment). Current projects involve follow-up of a cohort of mothers recruited in pregnancy and their children for assessments when the children are between 11 and 17 years of age. Assessments involve collection of a range of data, including maternal interviews, child behavioral tasks, neurodevelopmental measures, biospecimens, and anthropometry. Research activities include recruiting and consenting participants and scheduling study visits; executing study visits remotely, in the home, and in the laboratory, including administering and scoring behavioral and psychological assessments using standardized tests and questionnaires; collecting and managing biospecimens and physiological and behavioral data; data management; and preparing/updating documentation for ensuring study quality and dissemination of findings.

Key Responsibilities

• Recruits and consents participants for research studies through interviews and written communications. Provides detailed background information regarding studies to families, communicates all policies and procedures, and responds to all inquiries.
• Executes study visits remotely, in the lab, and in the home, including performing data collection and handling biospecimens.
• Serves as liaison to participants, guiding and advising them throughout the study. Coordinates follow-up visits. Acts as a resource to study participants, addressing any concerns they may have. Troubleshoots resolution of any issues that may arise throughout the study.
• Monitors and reviews data collection and data entry and informed consent procedures, ensuring consistency of application.
• Assists Principal Investigator in planning and implementing research studies and performs other miscellaneous administrative duties as assigned or required.
• Participates in the training of newly hired research study assistants, as needed.
• Creates and prepares data collection statistical reports and analytical summaries for distribution to study research team for review and analysis. Prepares/updates documentation for ensuring study quality (e.g., procedural manuals) and dissemination of findings (e.g., assistance with poster presentations, manuscripts) as necessary/requested.
• Coordinates activities between the study team and participating collaborators within and outside the hospital.
• Coordinates and prepares the necessary documentation for Institutional Review Board (IRB), Committee on Clinical Investigations (CCI) submissions, and NIH, together with the Principal Investigator of the study, as requested/needed.

Minimum Qualifications
Education:

• A bachelor's degree in psychology or another relevant field. 

Experience:

• Flexible schedule, including some evenings and weekends. Hours will be adjusted to maximize recruitment and interviewing schedules.
• Fluency in English and Spanish is required.
• Sensitivity in working with multicultural populations, traumatized women, and children.
• High attention to detail and organizational skills, ability to multi-task, analytical skills to gather and interpret data in which the information or problems are moderately complex to complex.
• Well-developed communication skills in order to provide critical information to participants, work collaboratively on a team, effectively deal with conflicting views or issues, and mediate fair solutions. 
• Phlebotomy experience is a plus. Willingness to be trained if no prior training.
• Knowledge of Excel is required. Knowledge of Word, PowerPoint, REDCap, and SPSS or SAS is a plus.