Research Assistant - Alzheimers Disease Center

University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City, KS Full-time Management

Posted on April 12, 2024

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Research Assistant - Alzheimers Disease Center

Department:
SOM KC The Alzheimer's Disease Center (ADC)
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Honea Research

Position Title:
Research Assistant - Alzheimers Disease Center

Job Family Group:
Professional Staff

Job Description Summary:
The University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (KU ADRC) is a National Institute of Aging P30-designated national leader in AD research with the vision to impact the lives of every patient and family dealing with Alzheimer's in the region and across the state of Kansas through our research, education, and clinical care. It resides at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). We are a comprehensive center at the forefront of clinical trials, lifestyle intervention trials, drug and translational research, and basic science research. Our research enables us to also provide leading edge clinical care and support for dementia caregivers. In addition, we provide a wide variety of both public education and training opportunities for the workforce of tomorrow.

This position will be in the Neuroimaging Core of the ADRC support research on Alzheimer's Disease and additional collaborations with the KU ADRC. The ADRC measures cognition, disease progression, and a variety of blood and brain biomarkers every year on a group of nearly 400 older adults in order to understand and identify early markers of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. By doing this, we hope to one day prevent future disability. This project analyzes the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion MRI data, and positron emission tomography (PET) brain images we get from those older adults. We are measuring changes in brain structure, function, and pathology known to be related to dementia. Your work as a research assistant would be to help with imaging data entry, data analysis, and data management for the project.

We're looking for someone who is interested in the brain and how it works, or someone who is interested in computer-based image analysis. You don't have to have a science degree to qualify. You will be great for this position if you have good attention to detail and procedures, are organized, and like to work on your own. It's best if you like working with numbers, computers, and learning new software. Don't worry if you haven't done anything like this before. We can teach you everything you need to know. But if you really don't like working with computers and have no coding or a mind for numbers and data, this might not be the right position for you. The research assistant will also assist with training students or other research associates on these tasks.

Job Description:

Required Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree. A combination of education and relevant work experience may substitute for degree on a year-for-year basis.

Preferred Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, or related discipline. A combination of education and relevant work experience may substitute for degree on a year-for-year basis.

Work Experience:

Four years of relevant work experience
Experience in research and clinical studies with human participants, including coding experimental stimulus paradigms in E-Prime, Presentation, PsychoPy, or other software
General computing experience including familiarity working with UNIX command line (Mac/Linux), and programming in MATLAB, R, Python, or other language
Experience with MR imaging data analysis (AFNI, SPM, FSL, or other tools)
Knowledge of statistics, and experience with statistical analysis software (SPSS, SAS, R, or similar)

Skills:

Analytical and meticulous, with strong problem solving, communication and writing skills
Interest in the brain and brain function or computer-based image analysis
Must have the ability to learn and use computer code
Strong organizational and interpersonal skills
Applicant should be detail-oriented, motivated, and able to work independently as much of the role will be on the computer and virtual
Candidates should have strong English skills due to occasional interaction with patients, and demonstrate and ability to write and communicate with a scientific audience.

Job Duties Outlined:

Data entry, transferring information accurately into computer-based forms and Excel spreadsheets.
Data management, organizing new electronic data into proper folders, making sure data file names are correct and data are complete.
Data analysis, viewing imaging data, checking for good data quality, running analysis scripts.
Documentation, keeping detailed and accurate notes about the tasks you complete, summarizing methods and results, helping with reports and manuscripts, making tables and figures.
Attend project progress meetings with the supervisor and study teams.
Assist with research design and implementation.
Participation in grant development and submission, and manuscript development and submission.
Any other duties as might be assigned from time to time.
Be a consistent, dependable, and committed team member.

Required Documents

Resume/CV
Cover Letter

Comprehensive Benefits Package:

Coverage begins on day one for health, dental, and vision insurance and includes health expense accounts with generous employer contributions if the employee participates in a qualifying health plan. Employer-paid life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and various additional voluntary insurance plans are available. Paid time off, including vacation and sick, begins accruing upon hire, plus ten paid holidays. One paid discretionary day is available after six months of employment, and paid time off for bereavement, jury duty, military service, and parental leave is available after 12 months of employment. A retirement program with a generous employer contribution and additional voluntary retirement programs (457 or 403b) are available. https://www.kumc.edu/human-resources/benefits.html

Employee Type:
Regular

Time Type:
Full time

Rate Type:
Hourly

Compensation Statement:

The pay range listed for this position is determined by our compensation program using market data and salary benchmarking. A combination of factors is considered in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, education, experience and training, qualifications relative to the requirements of the position, and funding. At the University of Kansas Medical Center, a reasonable estimate for the starting pay range will be the minimum to midpoint of the posted range, taking into account the combination of factors listed above.

Pay Range:
$22.66 - $32.85
Minimum
$22.66
Midpoint
$27.75
Maximum
$32.85

Application Instructions:
To learn more and apply online, please visit https://kumc.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/kumc-jobs/job/Kansas-City-Metro-Area/Research-Assistant---Alzheimers-Disease-Center_JR006846 or go to https://careers.kumc.edu/ and search for position number JR006846.

Applications must be submitted directly through the KU Medical Center website to be considered for this position. Any applications submitted via email or this website will NOT be reviewed or considered.

About KU Medical Center:
The University of Kansas Medical Center’s mission is to educate exceptional health care professionals through a full range of undergraduate, graduate, professional, postdoctoral and continuing education programs in the schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions. KU Medical Center also advances the health sciences through world-class research programs; provides compassionate and state-of-the-art patient care in an academic medical center environment; and works with communities in every Kansas county to improve the health of Kansans. Learn more at www.kumc.edu.

Benefits:
KUMC offers a range of great benefits that support employees and eligible family members. Our health insurance benefits begin on hire date and KUMC offers other exciting benefits such as paid parental leave, generous employer retirement contributions and other resources to improve health and well-being. For more information, please visit https://www.kumc.edu/human-resources/benefits.html

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The University of Kansas Medical Center is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, age, protected veteran or disability status, marital status, parental status, or genetic information. http://policy.ku.edu/IOA/nondiscrimination

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