Clinical Research Coordinator - Family and Community Medicine

This position is funded for 12 months; continuation past 12 months will be based on university need, performance, and/or availability of funding.

The Penn State College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine (FCM) is seeking an experienced professional to join our FCM research team as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the Healthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study, a longitudinal birth cohort involving pregnant women, children, and their families. Funded by the NIH HEAL Initiative, researchers will assess child development (from birth to 10 years old) and the impact of biologic, social, and environmental factors, including substance use (e.g., opioids, cannabis, alcohol, tobacco) and transitions in care.

The CRC will work closely with the FCM’s Vice Chair of Research, Aleksandra Zgierska, MD, PhD, and Debbie Firestine, Research Operations Manager as an integral member of a research team dedicated to advancing health outcomes.

The FCM's mission is to conduct impactful primary care research and educational outreach and disseminate evidence to bridge the gap between scientific advances and their applications to health.

Ideal candidates will have experience in conducting human subjects research and a Bachelor’s Degree or higher in a health or social services research-related field. They should have proficient ability with the following tasks and skills:

• Able to juggle multiple tasks and priorities in a professional manner.
• Work with pregnant and postnatal people, infants, children and families affected by substance use, trauma, or mental health concerns.
• Manage research data and protocols across a variety of study designs and research methodologies.
• Oversee daily project operations (budgets, timelines, standard operating procedures, project reporting), and relationships with internal departments and external entities supporting project implementation, coordinate with internal and external entities to establish contracts and agreements, expand and strengthen community relationships to support recruitment and retention and participant population access to community resources
• Knowledge of child welfare, transitions in care, community and mental health resources
• Oversee hiring, training, and management of study staff, delegate project responsibilities, and review completed work.
• Work independently to plan, develop and maintain study procedures, equipment, and policies that have an impact in all facets of research. This includes but is not limited to participant recruitment, consenting, scheduling, and coordination of visits, study materials/equipment preparation, and monitoring of the fidelity of intervention delivery. Coordinate, develop and monitor safety standards and protocol for children, families, and staff to engage in research activities.
• Supervise and coordinate recruitment and onboarding of student volunteers and interns.
• Conduct onsite research activities for neuroimaging, MRI scans, EEG testing, child development and social determinants of health. Able to bend, lift up to 20lbs
• Complete required trainings and maintain certifications to support standardized measures and continuity of longitudinal study visits.
• Experience with data and bio-sample collection, and ensuring high quality of data and fidelity to protocols
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal and communication skills, ability to work in a team environment demonstrate cultural competency and respect for individual differences and values .
• Experience with study governance, regulations, University policies, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements.
• Excellent writing skills, able to aid development and writing of literature reviews, IRB protocols.
• Data management including development, implementation, quality control, and support. Preference toward experience with LORIS, Ripple, REDCap, and internal Penn State HMC software.
• Familiarity with quantitative and qualitative analysis methods and report preparation; advanced Microsoft Word, Excel, and Adobe Creative Cloud; the University’s Strategic Information Management System (SIMS) and accounting procedures and systems (SIMBA) for reporting and budgets; administrative and facilities/operations procedures are ideal.

The FCM campus is located in the beautiful town of Hershey. Living in our diverse…