Position: Clinical Research Coordinator at Boston Children’s Hospital
Start Date: March/April 2021, 2 year commitment requested
Program Description: The Rollins lab is focused on understanding neurologic sequalae of complex medical conditions with a particular focus on congenital heart disease, extreme prematurity, and COVID-19 symptoms, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). The Fetal Heart and Brain Project is an NIH-funded clinical research study examining fetal brain development and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children born with heart defects, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological evaluation measures. This study affords the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team of neurologists, neuropsychologists, cardiologists and MRI physicists. The ELGAN-ECHO Study is a multi-site clinical research project that examines long-term neurodevelopment and medical outcomes of Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns (ELGAN). This study is the third part of a longitudinal research project, and involves adolescent follow-up of children who have been previously evaluated at birth, two years of age, ten years of age, and fifteen years of age. In addition to exposure to neurobehavioral measures, the ELGAN study has a broader outreach in pediatric clinical and epidemiologic research through participation in the ECHO consortium.
Job Description: This position is intended for a recent graduate interested in pursuing a career in medicine, neuroscience, psychology, or a related field. The coordinator will work directly with research participants, including pregnant women, toddlers and school-age children diagnosed with congenital heart disease, and children affected by COVID-19. Under the supervision of the principal investigator, the coordinator will manage day-to-day operations of the study. As the Rollins lab becomes involved in and responsible for an increasing number of studies, the research coordinator will be required to think and operate independently, juggle multiple tasks at once, and maintain attention to detail. Coordinators will be required to meet strict deadlines, recruit large numbers of participants, and maintain flexibility in their role. Specific responsibilities include screening for eligible participants, recruiting/consenting participants, scheduling and attending study visits, administering patient questionnaires, maintaining the study database, and performing medical record and literature reviews.
Strong interpersonal skills and a passion for working directly with patients are central to this role. Teamwork with clinicians and researchers in a wide variety of medical specialties will be essential for success. The ideal applicant will be an independent problem-solver, highly motivated and have excellent interpersonal skills. Fluency in Spanish and/or French is strongly preferred.
Other Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree (ideally in neuroscience or a related field)
- Prior clinical research experience strongly preferred
- Fluency in Spanish (and/or French) strongly preferred
- Excellent interpersonal skills and comfortable talking to patients in stressful situations.
- Excellent non-verbal, verbal, and written communication skills
- Highly organized and able to multi-task
- Strong attention to detail and ability to meet strict deadlines
- Able to work well in a group and individually
- Full time commitment of 2 years, 40 hours per week
- Work hours are generally 9 am – 5 pm but must have flexibility to accommodate patient schedules for evening and weekend study visits.
To apply: Interested applicants should email fetalheartbrain@childrens.harvard.edu with a cover letter and a resume or CV.
