RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGER

Duke University:

Duke University was created in 1924 through an indenture of trust by James Buchanan Duke. Today, Duke is regarded as one of America’s leading research universities. Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke is positioned in the heart of the Research Triangle, which is ranked annually as one of the best places in the country to work and live. Duke has more than 15,000 students who study and conduct research in its 10 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. With about 40,000 employees, Duke is the third largest private employer in North Carolina, and it now has international programs in more than 150 countries.

Duke University invites applications for a Research Project Manager to join an active research team focused on environmental chemical exposures and cancer risk in North Carolina firefighters. The Project Manager will work closely with Dr. Heather Stapleton and other researchers at Duke University, including the Duke Cancer Institute, and with researchers at NC State University.

Position Details:

The candidate will be expected to serve as a project manager for the newly formed North Carolina Firefighter Cancer Cohort Study (NC FFCCS) and will serve as the primary point of contact for the project. The goal of the NC FFCCS is to recruit 500 active firefighters to a prospective study, collecting survey information along with both biological and environmental samples to support exposure and health assessments. Firefighters will be followed for a period up to 30 years and will become part of the National FFCCS study.   Primary responsibilities will involve coordinating recruitment events at different locations across the state, communicating and advertising recruitment events with firefighters, managing protocols, collecting samples and helping to manage the project database.   Excellent communication and organizational skills are important. 

The position is available for two years, with a possibility of extension pending funding.

Preferred Qualifications:

Qualifications include a Master’s Degree or five years of prior experience along with a Bachelor’s degree in an environmental or natural science field and/or public health.  The successful candidate should be highly organized and have excellent oral and written communication skills, and a demonstrated interest in exposure science and community engagement.

Responsibilities:

• Manage administration of Intuitional Review Board protocols.  This involves several activities, including ensuring all research personnel have updated IRB certification, submitting amendments as needed to add or remove research personnel, or to make changes to the study protocols as needed, in addition to completing the annual reports to the IRB.  This individual will also serve as a liaison to the IRB personnel at the University of Arizona since we are developing a reliance agreement between our two institutions to support this research project. 

• Coordinate and plan recruitment events.  We anticipate that we will have at least 2-3 recruitment activities per month.  These activities could have anywhere from 3-4 participants, or up to 30 participants at an event depending on the location and group.  Events will be held at different locations around the state and will involve travel to these locations.  It will also involve coordinating the logistics of these events with our collaborators in various regions.  For example, this position will need to coordinate the location, time and supplies needed for each event with our firefighter colleagues around the state.  They will also coordinate schedules with our phlebotomists and other study team members to ensure we have enough support and personnel at each event depending on the anticipated number of recruits.  

• Assist in the collection of samples and arrange for shipment of samples as needed.  At each recruitment event we will be conducting a baseline survey (using an ipad) for each participant that agrees to be part of the study. These surveys take about 30-45 minutes to complete.   In addition, we will be collecting blood and urine samples from participants, and deploying wearable exposure monitors (silicone wristbands) to participants.  The blood and urine samples that are collected will need to be transported back to our laboratory for processing (aliquoting the samples and centrifuging the blood samples) and then some of these aliquots will be shipped to the primary biorepository for this national study at the University of Arizona.

• Manage the study database in RedCap.  This involves ensuring that all data is entered correctly into Redcap, which includes the participant baseline survey, and information on the samples collected at each recruitment event.  And when the biological samples are processed, aliquoted and shipped, this all needs to be recorded and managed in RedCap to document for chain of custody purposes.  This position will also help to manage access to the data (e.g. survey data) as needed by research members, and may be asked to create summary tables or export data for researchers using the data. 

• Coordinate and plan biannual Internal and External Advisory Committee meetings.

• Assist in the preparation of reports for the NC General Assembly, as needed.

• Help develop content for the website and social media.  This involves creating the content for, managing, and updating a webpage that is designated for this NC based project.  This webpage will also be linked with the national study and will be used to share updates, recruitment events and other activities with our research participants and sponsor (the NC General Assembly).   If time permits we also hope to create social media pages to help further advertise our study and share our findings.  I anticipate that this position will work in coordination with my lab administrator that helps develop and manage our current research webpage.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and Outlook
• Ability to prioritize and multi-task
• Proficiency with Redcap
• Strong organizational skills with attention to detail  
• Strong oral/written communication skills
• Ability to work independently and willing to take initiative
• Proficiency in Canva, Adobe software, Wordpress, Drupal and content design is a plus

To apply, submit a cover letter with resume.

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative and level of the types of duties and responsibilities that will be required of positions given this title and shall not be construed as a declaration of the total of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.

Requires Bachelor degree in related field.

Minimum of four years of related experience. OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

• Assist in the collection of samples and arrange for shipment of samples as needed.  At each recruitment ev ent we will be conducting a baseline survey (using an ipad) for eac h participant that agrees to be part of the study. These surveys ta ke about 30-45 minutes to complete.   In addition, we will be collecting blood and urine samples from participants, and d eploying wearable exposure monitors (silicone wristbands) to partic ipants.  The blood and urine samples that are collecte d willneed to be transported backto our laboratory for processing (aliquoting the samples and centrifuging the blood samples) and th en some of these aliquots will be shipped to the primary biorepository for this national study at the University of Arizona.
• • Manage the study databa se in RedCap.  This involves ensuring that all data is entered correctly into Redcap, which includes the participant base line survey, and information on the samples collected at each recru itment event.  And when the biological samples are pro cessed, aliquoted and shipped, this all needs to be recorded and ma naged in RedCap to document for chain of custody purposes.  This position will also help to manage access to the data (e. g. survey data) as needed by research members, and may be asked to create summary tables or export data for researchers using the data . 
  • Proficiency with Redcap
  • Strong organizational skill s with attention to detail  
  • Strong oral/written communication skills
  • Ability to work independently and willing to take initiative
  • Proficiency inCanva, Adobe software, Wordpress, Drupal and content design is a plus

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

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Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.