Research Assistants, Department of Psychology

Research Assistants, Department of Psychology

Apply now Job no: 498797
Work type: Postdoc / Research / Fellow
Location: Denver, CO
Categories: Research
Division: Arts & Humanities/Social Sciences

We are looking for two full-time Research Assistants. Each Research Assistant will assist with two grant‑funded research projects investigating the development and treatment of anxiety in youth. This research is timely given the increasing recognition of the importance of mental health in youth, and that anxiety is the most common mental health problem across development, most typically onsets during the pediatric period.

One clinical trial focuses on comparing two cognitive interventions – one computerized targeting interpretation bias in youth anxiety, and the other a group behavior therapy study for youth with anxiety and co‑occurring learning difficulties. Specific duties include recruiting and scheduling participants, making phone calls, assisting with research study visits, collection of cognitive, psycho-physiological, and mental health data, managing graduate and undergraduate student teams, participating as a co‑facilitator of group therapy sessions, project management, data management, IRB and clinical trials documentation and management, and community outreach to recruit participants and disseminate results.

There may also be opportunities to train in semi‑structured diagnostic interviewing and the conduct of cognitive therapy skills for youth, as well as to participate in manuscript writing and publication efforts.

Research Assistants will work very closely with other project staff and participants and therefore must have excellent interpersonal and organizational skills. The projects are conducted in the Brave Lab ((Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).) at the University of Denver. Given the number of projects and participants involved, Research Assistants must have excellent organizational and management skills. In addition, the research assistant will have the opportunity to substantially contribute to these research projects, including over time developing research questions to answer;

the depth and breadth of this involvement will be in accordance with the employee’s long‑term career goals and skills.

This is a full‑time, in‑person position (i.e., 40 hours per week) that comes with DU’s full benefits package, and the funding for this position is contingent on grant funding. The schedule requires daytime hours, including some late afternoon and early evening availability to accommodate participant visits after school, as well as occasional weekend availability to accommodate participant study visits.

Under the direct supervision of the Principal Investigator (Michelle Rozenman), research assistants will assist with these primary responsibilities:

• Project management of two research projects: one clinical trial comparing two cognitive interventions with anxious youth, and another that will test a new group intervention for children with anxiety and learning disabilities. The research assistants will assist with coordinating data collection including identifying eligible participants, developing workflows to communicate with eligible participants and tracking participation over time, longitudinal follow‑up of participants, prioritizing and managing multiple tasks across the two projects, and management of IRB protocols and clinical trials protocols.
• Working with human subjects that include youth and consenting caregivers: data collection of cognitive, psycho-physiological, and mental health data (tasks and questionnaires) from children and caregivers both in‑person and remotely; recruitment, screening, scheduling of participant appointments via phone, email, text communications as preferred by the family; behavioral management and support during research visits; interacting with families to support research goals and successful research visits.
  
  A successful research assistant will demonstrate the requisite interpersonal and data collection skills to ultimately be trained as a co‑facilitator of the group‑based intervention for youth with anxiety and…