• Job Type: Support Staff - Non-Union
• Bargaining Unit: SSA
• Regular/Temporary: Temporary
• End Date if Temporary: 1 year from start date
• Hours Per Week: 10
• Salary Range: $30.99 - $30.99 per hour

Position Summary

Reporting directly to the PI, the Research Assistant (RA) is responsible for work on research projects affiliated with the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center, Department of Neurology at the Neurological Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The RA is responsible for coordinating a multisite natural history study for participants with Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS) as well as a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for participants with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and muscle cramps. 

Responsibilities

• Recruiting research participants and obtaining informed consent for participating in studies (screening for eligibility, explaining study procedures, scheduling their appointments).
• Executing submissions to the Institutional Review Board including initial submissions, modifications, and renewals as well as reporting of unanticipated problems and adverse events.
• Coordinating multisite studies for participants with ALS and PLS, including administering in-person and telephone-based clinical outcome measures, tracking sites??? IRB approvals, providing necessary training for site personnel via webinar, ensuring high data quality for data collected across all sites, hosting monthly conference calls with sites, and issuing payment to site and participants.
• Processing biological specimens including blood, urine, and stool.
• Maintain updated data entry.
• Preparing posters and manuscripts for publication.
• Completing administrative duties such as ordering supplies, processing patient prescriptions, managing off-site storage, and sorting new referral requests.
• The RA may be asked (infrequently) to work in the evening or on Saturday to accommodate participants. Appropriate time and salary compensation will be made to offset such extra-hour work. 

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and at least 1.5 years of related experience or equivalent in education, training and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor???s degree in related field (e.g. biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, laboratory technology)
• Prior experience with Institutional Review Board policies and processing clinical biological samples is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with the conduct of clinical trials (Phase 1 strongly preferred).
• Familiarity with electronic data capture (EDC) and electronic medical records (EMR) systems strongly preferred. 

Other Requirements

• Highly organized, interested in neuromuscular disease, and have excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Be comfortable around terminally ill patients and their families.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, and Powerpoint). 

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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