Job Description

This role is designed to be 100% onsite, giving you the opportunity to collaborate closely with your team and immerse yourself in the energy of our workplace. Please note that hybrid or remote work options are NOT available for this position at this time.

Please note that a cover letter is required as part of the application. The cover letter should explain your interest in this opportunity and how it aligns with your career goals. Applications missing this document will not be considered.

Cedars-Sinai has an outstanding opportunity for an independent and well-organized contributor to serve as a CLINICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE to Dr. Judy Tan to support community-engaged research that develops behavioral and community-based health interventions for LGBTQ+ communities of color. Dr. Tan, Associate Professor, Cancer Research Center for Health Equity, Division of Population Sciences, Department of Biomedical Sciences, is a social psychologist and applies her training in behavioral and prevention sciences to develop innovative interventions for improving health outcomes among marginalized populations in the U.S.

This position provides contributions to behavioral and implementation science for the Cancer Research Center for Health Equity. The scope of the work includes research involving participants recruited from the surrounding LA communities and interactions with community-based researchers, academic researchers, and local community organizations and health systems. 

As Clinical Research Associate, you will be a vital member of an interdisciplinary team led by Dr. Tan, which includes a biostatistician, qualitative data researchers, as well as grant administrative and project management support staff members. Your role will be assisting with both quantitative and qualitative research projects, patient research engagement, and community liaison support. You will take lead roles on project activities, as identified by the team. 

Data management, coordination, and analysis: (30%) 

• Assist with leading the creation and management of organized research project portfolio with project dashboard for data tracking.
• Work independently to produce tables, charts, graphs for manuscript and grant preparation from sources including analyst reports, publicly available data, and literature searches.
• Organize data storage and management for qualitative study (including interviews with cancer patients, caregivers, and affected community members).
• Organize data storage and management for quantitative projects.
• Execute basic data analysis (demographic tables, bivariate calculations, evaluation of missing data) of existing data sets to generate research approach and analytic plans.
• Support process evaluation of a pilot smoking cessation program, including developing evaluation framework, creating and implementing a data collection plan.

Human subject research support: (20%)

• Assist with leading the creation and management of study questionnaires in REDCap.
• Identify and resolve quality issues with survey administration.
• Manage revisions of REDCap instrument and protocol.
• Triage data collection questions for immediate resolution or consultation with team, PI.
• Assist with leading the development and submissions of IRB study applications, modifications, and renewals.
• Assist with leading the compliance efforts for sponsoring entities.

Patient and stakeholder engagement: (20%)

• Support the relationship (act as primary liaison) with community partners, through meeting scheduling, regular and proactive email communication, phone calls, and in-person meetings.
• Support collaboration with community partners to develop and assess project implementation strategies, including outreach strategies, project materials, and workshop content. 
• Manage collaborative curriculum adaptation with multiple community partners. 
• Interact with patients via assisting with qualitative interviews and focus groups.

Writing & Grant Development (10%)

• Assist with leading the development of project narrative/research plans for new grants, including timelines and schedules of deliverables.
• Write portions of manuscripts in collaboration with the research team and community partners.
• Provide copy-editing assistance with manuscripts.
• Conduct independent literature searches and produce summaries to guide project development based on ongoing research findings and future steps.

Budget Management (5%)

• Act as PI proxy in grant expense approvals and FTE certification.
• Collaborate with department payroll and grant management staff to identify and address any expense errors.
• Reconcile budgets monthly.
• Create budget projections; identify budget surplus and deficits.
• Ensure timely payment of community partner and other service provider invoices.
• Assess appropriate budgets to charge for new research activities.

Website development & management (5%)

• Develop content for website.
• Edit content according to stakeholder (community partners?) feedback)
• Edit personal testimonial videos. 
• Respond to and track website inquiries.
• Act as the primary liaison with graphic designer and web developers. 

Other administrative duties as needed (5%) 

• Support Dr. Tan and project team with scheduling meetings
• Plan and co-manage event logistics; act as primary liaison with on-site service providers.

Qualifications

This role is designed to be 100% onsite, giving you the opportunity to collaborate closely with your team and immerse yourself in the energy of our workplace. Please note that hybrid or remote work options are NOT available for this position at this time.

Please note that a cover letter is required as part of the application. The cover letter should explain your interest in this opportunity and how it aligns with your career goals. Applications missing this document will not be considered.

Requirements:

• High School Diploma or GED required
• A cover letter explaining your interest in this opportunity and how it aligns with your career goals
• Resume or CV

Preferred: 

• Bachelor?s degree or equivalent experience in public health or related area.
• At least 2 years of related experience post-undergraduate degree.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Working knowledge of community-based research and organizing theories, frameworks, principles, and practices.
• Experience with program evaluation, specifically process evaluation. 
• Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects. 
• Experience working with marginalized populations related to health issues. 
• Strong interest in minority health & healthcare, racial disparities, social determinants of health with self- motivation for independent learning
• Commitment to racial and LGBTQ+ justice.
• Bachelor's level or equivalent analytic skills and understanding (SAS, Stata, R or equivalent).
• Intermediate or higher level skills of MS Office suite.

Interview Process:
If selected for an interview, candidates may be asked to complete a brief writing sample and/or a short example exercise or task relevant to the position.

About Cedars Sinai

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