Research Coordinator

Location: Twin Cities

This position supports research conducted at the Cognition and Neurodevelopmental Studies (CNS) Lab at the University of Minnesota. The CNS lab is a multiple PI-led research lab focused on brain and behavioral development in neurodevelopmental disabilities with a significant grant funding portfolio across multiple departments (Pediatrics, Institute of Child Development) housed at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. This position will support Project MAPLE:
Mapping Autism with Precision in Language and Expression, a landmark $34.7M grant from Aligning Research to Impact Autism (ARIA) that will use advanced brain imaging, clinical assessment, and real-world tracking to better understand how language develops in children with autism.

The Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB) is dedicated to fostering healthy brain function across the lifespan through early neurobehavioral and mental health assessment, innovative targeted interventions, informed policy-making, compassionate child-advocacy, and community education. The MIDB's mission of basic and clinical research in the field of neurobehavioral development is supported by a M Health Fairview multi-specialty clinic and multiple research service hubs including:
Analytics, Informatics, Neuroimaging, Center for Neurobehavioral Development, Translational Neuroscience, Neuromodulation, Tele Outreach, Community Engagement and Education, and Clinic-Research Integration.

Meghan Swanson, PhD and Jed Elison, PhD are co-Directors of the CNS Lab, Casey Burrows, PhD is the Lab Director of Clinical Training, and Shanna Mliner is the Program Director of Project MAPLE. We are seeking a research coordinator with laboratory/clinical research and early childhood experience to assist with this research project. Responsibilities for these research coordinator positions include research study coordination, participant recruitment, consent, and data acquisition, training and supervision, and laboratory support.

We are seeking candidates with knowledge of child development theory and research who have sufficient experience to ethically recruit, acquire informed consent, schedule appointments, conduct assessments (e.g., semi-structured parent interviews, behavioral testing with children), and acquire MRI data (learn to safely operate the scanner console) with child participants.

This is a full-time position (40 hours per week), prefers a minimum 2-year commitment, and will continue upon availability of funds and performance. Work will primarily be conducted in person at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, engaging directly with families, participants, and a large team of staff members. This position offers an excellent opportunity for professional growth and training in developmental and behavioral assessment and brain imaging with MRI within a collaborative research environment.

Research Study Coordination (40%)

• Responsible for research coordination of the research study from conception to completion, assisting the managers, director, and PIs to ensure timely progress and high-quality outcomes
• Assist with the development and adhere to the research protocol and study procedures
• Coordinate the day-to-day research operations
• Communicate problems and assist in identifying solutions to fulfill research objectives
• Provide regular recruitment/enrollment reports
• Assist with storage and management of study data and supplies
• Acquire front-end functional familiarity with databases, including tasks such as entering data, performing queries, examining quality control metrics, and extracting data for analyses

Participant Recruitment/Scheduling/Consent/Data Acquisition (40%)

• Complete trainings to ethically recruit and acquire informed consent from participants
• Schedule assessment and MRI scan research appointments with participants
• Reliably administer participant assessments (e.g., structured parent interviews, behavioral, neurocognitive, language, developmental testing with children)
• Learn the CNS Lab developmental neuroimaging standard operating procedures
• Complete Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) safety training to be able to operate the 3T & 7T scanner consoles
• Assist with the collection of MRI data, which will require occasional night (7-11pm) or weekend daytime session hours
• Adhere to all approved ethics and protocol procedures relating to participant privacy/ confidentiality and data integrity

Training and Supervision…