Research Scientist

Belmont, CA, United States

General Summary/ Overview:

Carries out research assignment of a general nature under the direction of a principal investigator or project director. Work is often performed independently of any active supervision but is usually intimately related to a larger effort.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

•Under the general direction and with considerable latitude for independent judgment, carries out various research activities in support of projects of varying magnitude and complexity.

•Discusses the assignment with the principal investigator.

•Draws upon professional level preparation in one or more scientific disciplines to define the problem, develop the study plan, select subjects, and gather the equipment and materials required

•May be given considerable freedom with respect to the design and timing of experiment

•May independently devise methods, procedures and techniques within the overall plan.

•Establishes a control database, where appropriate, against which experimental data can be analyzed.

•Carries out or directs the procedural steps in the study.

•May operate a wide variety of laboratory equipment during the execution of research procedure

•Monitors all phases of the experiment in order to assess whether or not the experiment is running smoothly

•May determine that procedures in use should be discontinued or revised and take steps to find an alternative approach following consultation with principal investigator.

•May also find it necessary to modify existing equipment to refine, measure or record particular results.

•Analyzes data collected during the experiment, synthesizes and evaluates it, draws whatever conclusions may be inferred from it and reports on his/her findings to the principal investigator.

•Prepares a formal, final written report for the inclusion in the overall report on the total research participation as investigation co-author.

•Supervises activities of support personnel as assigned.

•May teach research and laboratory operational procedures to students and support personnel as required.

Addendum: HBTRC Research Scientist Responsibilities

The Research Scientist at the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center (HBTRC) will work independently, covering a broad scope of responsibilities related to brain donation and neuropsychiatric research. Key duties include:

Donor Interactions: Engage with prospective brain donors to gather and document detailed medical and family histories.

Donation Coordination: Oversee all phases of donation coordination, assessing diagnostic information and potential exclusionary criteria.

Post-Donation Family Interactions: Conduct clinical interviews with donors' families to obtain comprehensive clinical and family histories.

Health Records Analysis: Perform detailed analysis of health records to assess medication history, exposure to environmental toxins, systemic conditions, and symptom phenotypes.

Questionnaire Development and Maintenance: Create and update electronic clinical questionnaires tailored to specific brain conditions and validate them for use by family members.

Structured Interviews: Develop and conduct structured clinical interviews with donors' family members.

Archival Record Review: Review archival donor health records to extract detailed clinical and family histories as required by NIH and NIH investigators.

Collaboration on Algorithm Development: Work with McLean Hospital and MGB investigators to develop natural language processing algorithms for analyzing brain donors' electronic health records.

Additional Duties: Perform other duties as assigned to support the research mission.

This role involves significant interaction with donors and their families, detailed record analysis, and collaboration with clinicians and researchers to enhance neuropsychiatric research efforts.

•Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Qualifications:

Masters, M.D., Ph.D., in the field of research being conducted; up to and including three years' experience in related research is desirable.

Extensive experience in the medical field is required.

Experienced in research using large claims databases

Experienced in collaborative projects with clinical medicine

Knowledge and skills in the critical appraisal of research evidence

Demonstrated knowledge of research methodologies, healthcare systems, and regulatory requirements is advantageous.

Skills/Abilities/Competencies:

• Medical Expertise: Extensive experience in the medical field is required, with a strong understanding of clinical practices and patient care.

• Clinical Interviewing and Scales: Training to carry out clinical interviews and administer clinical scales is essential.

• Patient Interaction: Ability to interact professionally, compassionately, and with integrity with patients suffering from severe neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental, or psychiatric conditions.

• Risk Assessment: Training in assessing self-harm risk and providing appropriate support.

• Family Interaction: Training to interact with patients' families during challenging circumstances, such as the loss of a loved one.

• Neuroanatomy and Neuropathology Knowledge: Strong knowledge of neuroanatomy, neuropathology, and their associations with clinical phenotypes.

• Clinical Management: Experience in clinical management, including coordinating interactions between clinical and research departments and managing patient recruitment and participation in research studies.

• Independent Work and Training: Demonstrated ability to work independently and to train junior colleagues effectively.

• Analytical Skills: Proven analytical skills with the ability to logically sequence projects to maximize research outcomes.

• HIPAA Compliance: Extensive knowledge and understanding of HIPAA regulations, compliance management, and incident reporting.

• Multilingual Proficiency: Fluency in foreign languages (e.g., Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese), including knowledge of medical and research terms, is strongly preferred.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

•No direct reports; may indirectly provide leadership and guidance to less seasoned and new staff

Fiscal Responsibility:

•No direct budgetary responsibility

•Demonstrates fiscal responsibility by effectively using Mass General Brigham McLean resource

Working Conditions:

•While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit; talk; or hear; use hands to finger; handle; or feel; reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; and stoop; kneel; or crouch. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 5 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision and depth perception.

•The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Normal office working conditions. The noise level in the work environment is quiet to moderate.

EEO Statement

McLean is an Affirmative Action Employer. By embracing diverse skills, perspectives and ideas, we choose to lead. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, military service, genetic information, and/or other status protected under law. We will ensure that all individuals with a disability are provided a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

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