Working title:

RESEARCH SPECIALIST / PROJECT COORDINATOR - DEPT. OF FAMILY MEDICINE

Official title:

RESEARCH SPECIALIST(T16DN) or ASSOC RESEARCH SPEC(T16FN)

Degree and area of specialization:

Bachelor's degree required. Course work in Sociology or Health Care preferred.

Minimum number of years and type of relevant work experience:

- Minimum of 2 years relevant work experience in a research environment.
- Medical background, experience in a medical setting, and/or experience with epidemiology is preferred.
- Candidate must have strong communication and organizational skills and the ability to adapt to various research methodologies as well as many different work environments.
- Some facility with Excel preferred.

Principal duties:

The Research Specialist/Project Coordinator serves as a primary member of Dr. Randy Brown's research teams, working directly with investigators, physician and non-physician providers, county court system staff, and research subjects on a variety of research projects in multiple locations. Current projects include conducting clinical research on chronic pain and drug use epidemiology and policy research.

Current projects and responsibilities of Project Coordinator are the following:

- Dr. Randy Brown's NIH-funded epidemiological study of health outcomes among participants in the Dane County Drug Court Treatment Program.

- Dr. Randy Brown's pending grants:
- Study of methadone vs. buprenorphone and health services utilization among drug court participants.
- Study of screening tools for drug misuse in primary care.
- Evaluation of culturally sensitive case management for African-American drug court participants.

Principal duties include:

(10%) Manage grant budgets, all IRB applications and issues, and other administrative tasks related to grants management. This includes continuing grant renewals and the development of miscellaneous reports and manuscripts.

(10%) Recruit subjects to participate in the studies and coordinate recuitment with drug court and treatment staff.

(5%) Develop tracking mechanisms and protocols to standardize intervention procedures and manage data for entire project.

(5%) Coordinate activities of all researchers and clinics, and train other researchers on the established protocols and databases. Ensure the completion and receipt of data, consent document, and data tracking records by other researchers.

(35%) Develop mechanisms to collect data appropriate to the standards and goals of the individual study that are also compatible with office systems in multiple clinic and court sites, including UW DFM clinics, private community clinics, and the county court system. Negotiate with site personnel, develop rapport with critical staff, problem solve, and establish systems fitting the culture of the individual site. Data collection may include focus groups, face-to-face or telephone interviews, patient questionnaires, medical record reviews, or extracting information from computerized medical record systems. Track other researchers' progress in these areas in order to keep the Principal Investigator up-to-date on the progress of all research staff. Perform data collection activities, conducting subjective patient interviews, extracting medical and demographic data from medical and court records, and administering patient questionnaires.

Schedule patients for interviews or intervention visits at multiple and changing sites, adapting procedures to the needs of each site.

(20%) Set up research databases and enter data from the studies, perform data cleaning and data presentation in tabular and graphic format.

(5%) Resolve concerns raised by clinic and court staff as they relate to the research projects in the multitude of study sites, taking direct action to address issues in a timely manner and/or bringing them to the attention of the Principal Investigator, if necessary.

(5%) Develop agenda and run research team meetings.

Assist in writing, reviewing, and editing grant initiatives, reports, and scientific articles for submission to peer-reviewed publications.

(5%) Participate in presenting results at local and national meetings.

Conduct medical and scientific reference bibliographic searches, including abstracting data from published sources, summarizing articles, and maintaining a bibliographic database.


A period of evaluation will be required.

Additional Information:

- Prefix assignment determined by years of relevant work experience.

- Employment contingent upon results of criminal background check.

TO ENSURE CONSIDERATION

Application must be received by: SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

HOW TO APPLY:

Unless another application procedure has been specified above, please send resume and cover letter referring to Position Vacancy Listing #59671 to