Research Assistant, Brain and Mind Institute at Aga Khan University Hospital

Job Summary

The Brain and Mind Institute (BMI) seeks to recruit an experienced and competent Research Assistant to support in data collection, data curation, cleaning, and analysis for BMI’s research activities. The Research Assistant will be assigned to work in the upcoming Brain-Resiliency Project in Kenya. The role and responsibilities of the Research Assistant may include but not be limited to recruiting/screening new participants, consenting participants for research in line with global standards for responsible conduct of research and human subject protection guidelines, administering structured interviews, neuropsychological tests, and questionnaires to research participants, contributing to data management by cleaning, entering, and organizing data for statistical analyses, actively participating in scientific and management committee meetings, journal clubs, and other scheduled didactics that support the project, preparing summary reports of research progress for Research Associate, Project Manager, and PIs, and completing independent research projects under the mentorship of Principal Investigators (PI) (optional but encouraged). The Research Assistant is obligated to work within the required deadlines and available to BMI as requested by the PI.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist with recruiting study participants;
• Conduct phone interviews to screen for enrollment;
• Consent new participants and administer structured questionnaires, scales, and questionnaires;
• Establish good rapport and friendly atmosphere for participants;
• Answer questions about the costs and benefits of research procedures;
• Obtain valid, reliable, and complete datasets;
• Accurately score measures;
• Enter data into data management software in a timely fashion;
• Supervise the comfort level and safety of participants during all research procedures;
• Ensure that participants find correct location and provide support and encouragement to complete procedures.

Qualifications and skills Requirements

• Completed or in final year of completing Master’s degree in any of the following areas: Psychology, Psychometrics, Biomedical Sciences, Data Science, Social work, or related discipline;
• Experience managing human subjects research projects;
• Experience supervising research assistants;
• Experience working with community stakeholders and NGO’s is an asset;
• Experience with quantitative data collection and analysis strategies;
• Experience with administration of psychological measurement instruments;
• Experience with interviewing human participants and managing psychological distress;
• Experience with Microsoft office suite, statistical software programs, and data management platforms.