RESEARCH STUDY ASSISTANT

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences within the UW School of Medicine is the third largest clinical department with over 300 full-time faculty members, over 400 courtesy/affiliate faculty members, 132 trainees and over 300 staff with an annual budget of over $110m. Department faculty provide clinical services in the University of Washington School of Medicine, University of Washington Medical Center-Montlake and Northwest and Harborview Medical Center.  Faculty members also serve at Seattle Children's Hospital, the Veteran’s Administration Puget Sound Healthcare System, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; which comprise 5 hospitals, 14 primary care locations, and several outpatient sites; in addition to telepsychiatry consultations to more than 150 clinics in Washington and beyond. As the only academic psychiatry department serving the five state WWAMI region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho), the Department’s highly competitive residency training program is largely responsible for developing the mental health workforce in the Pacific Northwest and is the largest program in the United States. We offer 26 graduate medical education programs, including the Psychiatry Residency and Clinical Psychology Intern/Resident programs, 24 subspecialty clinical fellowships (ACGME & Non-ACGME), and required and elective medical student clerkships for 276 students.  In addition, our education program runs 6 workforce training programs for mental health practitioners across Washington State and the Pacific Northwest Region.

The Department’s robust research portfolio reached $55 million in grant and contract awards in fiscal year 2023 for projects ranging from clinical neurosciences to treatment development to health policy and population health. The Department is recognized as an international leader in developing, testing, and implementing Collaborative Care, an integrated care model increasingly seen as a solution for population-based mental health care. Other areas of excellence include Addictions, Autism, High Risk Youth, Neurosciences, and Trauma, and the Department is developing innovative new programs in Technology and Mental Health, Global Mental Health, Maternal and Child Mental Health, and Targeted Intervention Development.

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is recruiting for a full time Research Study Assistant.

POSITION PURPOSE
This position works with the Hendrickson Lab at the Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (NW MIRECC), based at the Seattle VA Medical Center in Beacon Hill.

The NW MIRECC is a highly collaborative world class biomedical research center that develops novel and improved treatments for major psychiatric, neurologic, and behavioral health disorders affecting Veterans. The NW MIRECC’s mission focuses on neuropsychiatric disorders that are highly prevalent among combat-exposed Veterans, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and blast concussive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The MIRECC also explores the parallel impacts of physical or psychological trauma on both physical and mental health.

This position will focus on research examining changes in the stress response system after a psychological or physical stressor. Projects include looking at changes in the autonomic nervous system and how those changes relate to psychiatric symptoms in individuals with persistent symptoms after COVID-19 infection or after a traumatic stressor. This involves both working with observational data and helping to run interventional clinical trials for Veterans experiencing symptoms of PTSD.

This position will interact with a multidisciplinary group of clinical and basic investigators, as well as clinicians, fellows, volunteer research participants, community partners, and scientific collaborators.

The Hendrickson Lab is committed to understanding systemic inequities within the sciences that have historically excluded underrepresented populations. We aim to address these inequities in our research process and continually work towards a more diverse, equitable scientific community. We encourage candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Under minimal supervision and guidance, the research study assistant will: