Project Assistant

The Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) is an interdisciplinary institute in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences (cesr.usc.edu/) that houses the USC mHealth Collaboratory and the Spruijt-Metz lab. Research areas at the lab include mobile health and new technologies, diabetes and obesity research, prevention and intervention development, and minority health. Dr. Spruijt-Metz has an opening for a project Assistant.

Description of Position

The Project Assistant  position focuses on two projects. One is the Investigator Development Core (IDC) for the newly funded Southern California Center for Chronic Health Disparities in Latino Children and Families. For the IDC, the Project Assistant will serve as the administrator for our peer reviewed allocation of pilot research funds, which includes the building of multidisciplinary research teams, evaluation and tracking of research programs and pilot funding outcomes. The Program Assistant will also co-ordinate salivary cortisol collection for the new project titled: SALUDe - Stress in Adolescent Latinos and Urban Daily experiences. This will entail purchasing supplies, labeling and packaging cortisol kits, handling the freezers where the cortisol will be stored, and sending it out to be assayed. Successful candidates should be able to interact effectively with teams across different time zones, engage effectively with counterparts at all levels, and multitask across two fast-moving projects.

Responsibilities

Percent of Time

Detailed Description/Accountability

50%

Pilot Funding Program Coordination  & Administration

• Schedules meetings and/or plans events and generates and archives program documents and files.
• Coordinate program services with other offices and staff on campus.
• Arranges with vendors for services.
• Supports the IDC Directors in preparing written or electronic documents on an as needed basis
• Maintain communication with past and prospective pilot applicants.
• Funding award/post award process and coordination: set-up executive meetings for pilot awards, prepare agenda, prepare packets; prepare and send awardee notification and letters to those not funded.
• Assembles pilot applications and review materials and administratively updates the grant application and review portal (e.g., WizeHive) to facilitation the pilot grant cycle process.
• Contributes to program development by participating in writing pilot funding meetings.
• Interacts with the Center’s Community Engagement Core.
• Set-up of interactive conferencing as needed (e.g. web, Phone, and video conferencing portable capture systems).
• Track and maintain data for the pilot outcomes and masters spreadsheets.
• Track and maintain data for the application and grant review portal (e.g, reviewers assigned; applications received etc.)
• Track progress, post updates, compile scores and statistics, funding award tracking and outcomes.
• Participates in Center & IDC meetings

50%

• Attend Project meetings
• Coordinate with investigators (in particular the MD on the project) and vendors to purchase salivettes, freezer storage and other supplies necessary for the collection of salivary cortisol in Los Angeles schools, advise investigators at the University of Texas on purchase needs.
• Label vials and bags for each participant (150 in Los Angeles) and advise Texas personell on labeling for their 150 participants for the duration of the study over several collection periods.
• Track cortisol collection, storage, mailing and assay information.
• Receive samples from the LA and Texas teams and store them in the freezers
• Maintain freezers
• Oversee mailing of samples to the lab in Germany for assays
• Track the assay data.
• Literature searches
• Other administrative tasks as necessary

Skills

• Self-starter, independent worker with deep curiosity about minority health
• Experience with literature searches and syntheses
• Familiarity with qualitative research (e.g., expert interviews, focus groups)
• Project management skills and willingness to pitch in wherever needed
• Robust knowledge of MS Office suite
• Familiarity with EndNote or other reference management tools
• Preferably familiarity with the following softwares/applications: REDCap, Adobe Acrobat Professional, Google Drive, Dropbox.  
• Ability to communicate research results in manuscripts, reports and PowerPoint slides

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s level or BA/BS with three years’ experience in a similar job

Salary range: $25 - $30 per hour - DOE

Required Documents and Additional Information:

• Resume and cover letter required (may be uploaded as one file). Please do not submit your application without these documents.
• Job openings are posted for a minimum of (5) five business days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended, so please apply on the same business day if interested.
• USC has excellent benefits, including health benefits for staff and their family with access to the renowned university medical network; eligibility for retirement plans with employer contributions after six months of employment; tuition benefits for staff and their family; free Professional Development classes; central Los Angeles location with easy access to commuter trains, buses and free tram pick up services; discounts to sporting and other campus events.

Performs other related duties as assigned or requested. The university reserves the right to add or change duties at any time.

The University of Southern California is an Equal Opportunity Employer that Values Diversity.

Minimum Education: High school or equivalent Minimum Experience: 1 year Minimum Field of Expertise: Knowledge of data collection procedures and some experience with proposal preparation and production of technical documents