Research Assistant

This competition is open to all applicants however internal candidates and applicants who were former employees of the University of Alberta in the past 18 months will be given priority consideration before external candidates. Please indicate your internal status using the "Advertisement" drop down menu when applying.

This position has an end date of one year plus a day from date of hire and offers a comprehensive benefits package which can be viewed at: Faculty & Staff Benefits .

In this position, the Research Assistant will perform the day-to-day operations of the clinical research studies assigned to them. This may include but is not limited to: recruiting subjects; coordinating subject research visits; collecting data via questionnaires, maintain proper ethics procedures, and other data-gathering processes as required; recording data in local and shared databases; drafting ethics applications and providing ongoing written and oral communication with the Research Ethics Board; monitoring study progress; assisting with manuscript preparation and submission.

Duties

• Screening, recruitment and enrolment of potential study participants, including informed consents. Participant enrolment includes: confirming eligibility, obtaining informed consent and providing appropriate study subject kit.
• Patient contact, informed consent carried out according to the International Conference on harmonization guidelines
• Extensive knowledge of ongoing research projects and identifies and determines which patients would be eligible for each project; contacts and schedules appointments with potential research participants. Invite and confirmation notices for meetings are sent out.
• Provides education and counseling to participants regarding protocol requirements, study treatment schedules, the use of data collection tools and follow-up visits.
• Addresses patient concerns and troubleshoots via telephone and/or in person
• Responsible for room and procedure bookings
• Organize and develop patient kits for various studies
• Development, understanding and adherence to Standard Operating procedures (SOP’s), International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), Good Clinical Practices (GCP’s) and Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research involving Humans (TCP’s) and other applicable regulatory requirements.
• Assists with Human Research Ethics Board (HREB) submissions, including informed consents and maintains trial related documents
• Assist in the development and maintenance of proper ethics forms, submissions and legal documents
• Liaise with various members of the research group regarding the research projects they are involved with
• Ensures that study participants are efficiently monitored and that safety requirements are implemented as necessary; accurately and promptly reports Serious Adverse Events as dictated by protocol.
• Maintain communication with allied health professionals and staff, ensuring that protocols are followed
• Provides trial related information to support staff ensuring high quality patient care is delivered by the team of providers
• Good relationships are developed and maintained with University of Alberta and Alberta Health Service
• Stay up-do-date on new developments/research regarding areas of interest of the investigator
• Manages own time effectively and ensures immediate reports to manager is kept informed of activities and progress of work
• Develops a firm understanding of the research projects assigned to them carried out to aide in the facilitation of patient recruitment
• Maintain patient records and data collection; ensures data from questionnaire and source documentation sheets are entered into a secure database (paper and electronic)
• Administrative tasks as required

Qualifications

• Minimum Bachelor of Science in a related field; MSc preferred
• Knowledge of clinical trials, training in Good Clinical Practices Guidelines (GCP) and International Council on Harmonization Guidelines (ICH) preferred, research ethics policies and Tri-Council policies for research involving human subjects.
• Knowledge of Alberta's health system and Canada's health research environment (including the submission of ethics applications and related AHS research agreement process
• Experience in clinical research and/or knowledge translation
• Experience with working with online data-entry platforms (e.g., LORIS, REDCap, etc.)
• Strong written and verbal communication, Interpersonal, and organizational skills
• Strong computer skills {MS Office, SPSS, Google Drive, LORIS, REDCap, NACTRC, REMO, etc.}
• Knowledge of the University of Alberta policies and procedures
• Positive attitude and the ability to function independently and within a team environment
• Open to learning and development and be willing to accept new challenges and assignments is a must
• Previous contact with patients through booking and counseling an asset
• Prior experience handling and managing human specimens is an asset
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Highly developed sense of tact and diplomacy; ability to work successfully with a diverse group of people
• Evidence of strong analytical skills, ability to coordinate multiple tasks and projects
• Statistical knowledge is an asset
• Experience with qualitative research methods preferred
• Experience with Nutrition screening, assessment and body composition and functional assessment techniques preferred

Note: Online applications are accepted until midnight Mountain Standard Time of the closing date.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those individuals selected for an interview will be contacted.