Research Assistant/ Technician 2
About The Position
We are seeking a research assistant to be a member of the Naturalistic Neuroimaging Lab (PI: Tamara Vanderwal). Our lab uses complex, dynamic conditions to study neural and physiological responses in child psychiatric disorders, with a focus on adolescent depression. We primarily use movie-fMRI, but also conduct eye-tracking, behavioural, and other types of studies with children and youth of all ages. The lab is located at BC Children’s Hospital, and we run research participants both at BCCHR and sometimes at UBC. This is a full time (1.0FTE) research assistant position that requires both technical aptitudes (e.g., basic coding, working with sensitive equipment) and people skills (e.g., working with children and families with mental health issues in a research setting). The RA will help facilitate the day-to-day working of the lab, with a focus on data collection and running experimental sessions with children and youth.
Requirements
- High school graduation, some additional training in a related field and a minimum two years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
Nice To Haves
- Undergraduate degree in a related field
- Experience with REB applications specifically with children and youth with medical or mental health disorders
- Some coding experience
- Some experience in clinical research with children or youth
- Demonstrated ability to handle multiple tasks and competing priorities, deadlines, etc. while maintaining a high level of precision and accuracy
- Proficiency with REDCap
- Basic level of computer programming in any language, interest in learning more (e.g., MATLAB)
- Proficiency with computer programs, including Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, etc.
- Experience with patient recruitment
- Experience with Ethics Boards
- Robust commitment to EDI, enjoys working with people from all backgrounds, genders, training levels, etc.
- Ability to work independently as needed
- Potential to flexibly shift work hours to cover weekend scan slots when needed. This does not happen routinely, but is sometimes required when recruitment for a specific study is challenging.
Responsibilities
- Preparing Research Ethics Board submissions for new study protocols. This includes synthesizing information from grant applications, team discussions, and meetings with the PI into an online portal called Research Information Systems (RISe).
- Creating and updating REDCap databases
- Leading recruitment activities for studies, including creating and posting both online and hardcopy recruitment materials, answering emails and messages from potential participants, and screening participants for various studies
- Coordinating study visits and MRI scan sessions
- Consenting and assenting children and families, and running experimental study sessions both in the neurophysiological lab and at the MRI research facility. For example, this sometimes includes showing movies and task-based stimuli to the participant via a computer using specific software programs, attaching electrodes to a participant’s body to collect information about their heartrate or skin, or using eye-tracking technology. The RA’s job is to help the participant understand and feel comfortable with the study procedures, and to ensure that high-quality data is collected during the session.
- Conducting some stages of data preprocessing and basic statistical analyses
- Responsibility for proper storage and organization of research data
- Conducting literature searches, maintaining literature databases, providing summaries
- Helping with manuscript and grant writing, including figure preparation, tables, references, proofreading, preparing submission documents, etc.
- Assist PI with the development of lab processes, manuals, onboarding documents, and tracking of expenses. This includes making updates as instructed to lab onboarding materials and writing out step-by-step instructions for using certain equipment (basically documenting what they have been taught by the PI, graduate students, and their own learning from tutorials and manuals). These materials are used by students and trainees in the lab, and the RA will play a role together with students to keep these documents updated and useful.
- Assist PI with tracking of expenses for various grants and projects, including tracking expenses in Workday
- Help organize lab meetings, journal clubs and Knowledge Translation events.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
High school or GED
