Graduate Research Assistant - Summer Intern

Brandeis University • Waltham, MA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Institute for Behavioral Health seeks a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Summer Intern to provide support for the Exploring community Knowledge -Ongoing (ECKS-O) study. This is a part time summer internship, 20 hours per week from June - August 2026. The pay rate is $25/hour.

Requirements

• strong organizational and time-management skills
• must be detailed oriented and focused.
• Ability to treat people who use drugs and people who are in recovery with dignity, respect, and kindness.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal are necessary
• Ability to maintain strict confidentiality and navigate complex ethical boundaries involving illicit activities.
• Access to transportation is required.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with SPSS, R or Stata is preferred.
• strong legal research skills (e.g., experience with Westlaw/LexisNexis) preferred.
• Prior experience with research, community service with vulnerable populations, and/or with people who use drugs is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Working with Project Managers and Principal Investigator to support research on law and policy related to drug use and harm reduction
• Conduct statutory and regulatory analysis of Massachusetts laws governing harm reduction infrastructure, including drug paraphernalia statutes, syringe service program (SSP) authorizations, and the legal status of drug-checking technologies (e.g., fentanyl or xylazine test strips, drug checking equipment) in treatment and healthcare settings
• Perform multi-state legal comparisons analyzing how other states regulate novel public health interventions for harm reduction to provide model policy options for Massachusetts
• Prepare policy memos, written materials and publication.
• Creation/preparation of presentations, documentation, and other communication materials to delivery information to communities, the department of public health, the team, and more
• Analyze federal and state data privacy laws with respect to harm reduction data.
• Contribute to legal and policy analysis, statistical analysis (e.g. bivariate analysis) and/or qualitative data coding and analysis with ECKS-O data.
• Attend weekly project meetings to record action steps, as requested.

Benefits

• Training and mentoring available for candidate.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Intern