Clinical Research Assistant-Department of Neurosurgery-RNA Lab

University of Florida•Gainesville, FL

1d•$19 - $22•Onsite

About The Position

This position is for a Clinical Research Assistant within the Department of Neurosurgery's RNA Lab. The role involves coordinating clinical trials in Comparative Oncology, managing research data, supporting translational research laboratory operations, and ensuring regulatory compliance. The assistant will work closely with Principal Investigators (PIs), the Research and Development Manager, and Dr. Kelly Debolt to ensure the validity of clinical research data and adherence to protocols. Responsibilities include patient monitoring, sample collection, data entry, laboratory procedures, and regulatory administration.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent and one year of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Nice To Haves

Certified veterinary technician
Experience with Veterinary Oncology programs.
Computer skills using database programs e.g. Excel, Access, Word.
Organizational skills and the ability to get along with people would be essential.
Ability to work independently and proactively in a large, busy hospital setting.
Clinical experience in a veterinary hospital setting.
Experience with research trials would be preferred but not essential.

Responsibilities

Coordinate all activities of assigned clinical trials in Comparative Oncology to assure validity of clinical research patient data and study findings, including responsibility for adherence to research protocols by everyone involved in conduct of the study.
Transmit and distribute protocol information, work on all protocol amendments, update all relevant parties such as clinicians, technicians and PIs as to the protocol processing once per week.
Serve as a source for protocol and clinical research information about the projects.
Assist with vaccine administration, patient monitoring in the ICU under Dr. DeBolt’s guidance, collect clinical blood and tissue samples, including blood and urine collection and is responsible for animal restraint for sample collection.
Communicate with clients and referring veterinarians regarding patient eligibility, patient care, and follow up.
Responsible for basic nursing care and medication administration for comparative and oncology clinical trials patients.
Schedule patient/research participants and answer calls from clients/DVMs that are interested in enrolling a patient for any of the current clinical trials.
Train student volunteers and OPS staff to perform necessary skills such as patient restraint, sample collection and processing or other skills as needed.
Assist other personnel in verifying patient eligibility for Oncology studies by comparing patient history and clinical laboratory results with protocol requirements.
Ensure that patients are registered in appropriate databases and that all relevant data points are captured.
Update all records in Redcap and transfer data to the Shiny app for UFHCC clinical trials database.
Assist the Clinical Trials Coordinator in creating and maintaining databases, spreadsheets and research charts, generates relevant data for new grant and publication submissions.
Regularly compile and/or review research data to ensure the completeness, accuracy and timeliness of data collected.
Meet regularly with Clinical Trials Research Coordinator/PI to review data accuracy and overall study progress.
Assist in preparing reports on individual patients or the study as required by the principal investigator.
Work with Research lab staff in PIC2 to run data immune-monitoring studies with Bio Sci IV Frances Weidert and the Research and Development Manager.
Assist with Preparing PBMCs and freezing them down, processing serum for cytokine analysis, prepares PBMCs for TCR analysis for Clonotype sequencing.
Assist the Bio Sci IV Frances Weidert to stain and run samples for Flow cytometry analysis for all Comparative Oncology trials.
Assist with study planning, budgeting and grant preparation.
Schedule and coordinate meetings and facilities for research teams to facilitate clinical trial initiation, completion and/or results reporting.
Compose research correspondence, memos, reports and minutes of research meetings.
May review data from affiliate departments on an ongoing basis for completeness, timeliness and accuracy.
Prepare for and participate in audits of studies, both by internal and external parties in conjunction with the principal investigator.
Under the direction of the Research and Development Manager, PIs, and Clinical Veterinary Oncologists, prepare new study requests and protocol/consent modifications to be sent to the IACUC and VHHRC.
Assist with the annual protocol renewal requests and termination reports for the Research and Development Manager and the principal investigator.
Assist in preparing the hospital areas for annual IACUC inspections.