Clin/Tran Research Coordinator I

VUMC is a community of diverse individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health recognizes that diversity is essential for excellence and innovation. We are committed to an inclusive environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your diversity of culture, thinking, learning, and leading is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

This role involves collecting and managing data from clinical participants as part of NIH-funded projects focused on older adults with depression.

The person in this role would have responsibility for recruiting study participants and guiding them through study procedures while adhering to good research practices. This person would also help with strategic planning for laboratory projects and liaison with other research groups.

Key Responsibilities 

• With assistance, prepares and processes new IRB research proposals, amendments, continuing review applications and adverse event reports according to institutional and departmental policies and procedures and federal regulations.
• Screens and schedules study participants, working collaboratively with participants, other staff and trainees, and departments to complete research protocols including behavioral data collection, neuroimaging data collection, and questionnaire and interview data collection. Follows an established protocol faithfully and meticulously to ensure data integrity across all forms of data collection.
• Works to recruit potential study participants by coordinating with other laboratories and/or departments/centers, community groups, and online social platforms.  Will help guide overall recruitment planning and strategies.
• Participates in the ongoing informed consent process, ensuring that participants and involved families clearly understand what is expected of and from them in the course of participating in a research study.
• After training, schedule and guide participants through study procedures, including guiding them through protocols involving MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
• After training, will conduct diagnostic assessments and memory testing with participants.
• Maintains good rapport with research participants, assuring timely communication and sending follow-up information as needed.
• Monitor quality of study procedures and adherence to institutional and federal requirements.
• Collect samples and submit for processing.
• Procures equipment and supplies needed to fulfill project requirements.
• Collaboratively participates in study team meetings and initiates regular check-ins with principal investigator. Maintains open and positive communication with investigators, research staff, sponsors, participants, and representatives of professional organizations, participant advocates, and the public responsible for, or concerned about, protections for human participants of research.
• May supervise undergraduate students in following protocols for data entry, coding, and verification.
• Helps monitor data quality and prepare data for analysis and upload to sponsor-mandated data-sharing repositories. Assists with data management using REDCap or other tools.
• Assists with developing budgets for research proposals.
• Demonstrates initiative for continuous learning, both self-directed and as evidenced by attendance of educational and professional development opportunities. Actively seeks new learning opportunities, seeing learning as part of work.
• Furthers knowledge base by attending a Basic Research 101 within first several months of employment, if not previously attended.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree, preferred in psychology, neuroscience, or related field.
• Prior experience with human subject research and patient recruiting is preferred.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills.

Technical Capabilities 

• Project Coordination (Fundamental Awareness): Has light experience, training, direct exposure, or past experience with Project Coordination. Has worked on at least one project in a support role. Collects and collates project related material such as project initiation documents, project status reports, project metrics, and project completion data.
• Study Design & Conduct (Fundamental Awareness): Applies qualitative and quantitative research methods to perform preparatory, regulatory, and analytic tasking within the life cycle of a study.
• Communication (Fundamental Awareness): Clearly, effectively and respectfully communicates to employees or customers.
• Clinical Research (Fundamental Awareness): Knows the primary resources available to accomplish the job. Can successfully research simple clinical questions pertaining to the functional area. Files and collates trial documentation and reports. Archives study documentation and correspondence. Demonstrates a systematic approach to problem solving.

Core Accountabilities

• Organizational Impact: Delivers job responsibilities that impact own job area/team with some guidance.
• Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Uses existing procedures, research and analysis to solve standard job related problems that may require some judgement.
• Breadth of Knowledge: Requires subject matter knowledge within a professional area to meet job requirements.
• Team Interaction: Individually contributes to project/ work teams.

Core Capabilities 

• Supporting Colleagues: Develops Self and Others: Continuously improves own skills by identifying development opportunities.
• Builds and Maintains Relationships: Seeks to understand colleagues priorities, working styles and develops relationships across areas.
• Communicates Effectively: Openly shares information with others and communicates in a clear and courteous manner.
• Delivering Excellent Services: Serves Others with Compassion: Invests time to understand the problems, needs of others and how to provide excellent service.
• Solves Complex Problems: Seeks to understand issues, solves routine problems, and raises proper concerns to supervisors in a timely manner.
• Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Listens carefully to understand the issues and provides accurate information and support.
• Ensuring High Quality: Performs Excellent Work: Checks work quality before delivery and asks relevant questions to meet quality standards.
• Ensures Continuous Improvement: Shows eagerness to learn new knowledge, technologies, tools or systems and displays willingness to go above and beyond.
• Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Demonstrates basic knowledge of conditions that affect safety and reports unsafe conditions to the appropriate person or department.
• Managing Resources Effectively: Demonstrates Accountability: Takes responsibility for completing assigned activities and thinks beyond standard approaches to provide high-quality work/service.
• Stewards Organizational Resources: Displays understanding of how personal actions will impact departmental resources.
• Makes Data Driven Decisions: Uses accurate information and good decision making to consistently achieve results on time and without error.
• Fostering Innovation: Generates New Ideas: Willingly proposes/accepts ideas or initiatives that will impact day-to-day operations by offering suggestions to enhance them.
• Applies Technology: Absorbs new technology quickly; understands when to utilize the appropriate tools and procedures to ensure proper course of action.
• Adapts to Change: Embraces changes by keeping an open mind to changing plans and incorporates change instructions into own area of work.