Graduate Research Assistant: Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on PLWH in Atlanta, Emory

Role Description

African Americans in Georgia are disproportionately impacted by HIV, comprising 72% of the total number of individuals with HIV disease in this state. Tragically, African Americans who have contracted SARS-CoV-2 also bear a disproportionate burden of death from COVID-19. The overlap of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the HIV epidemic creates a syndemic (or the aggregation of two or more concurrent or sequential epidemics interacting synergistically and contributing to excess burden of disease in a population) for African Americans with HIV.

By using quantitative and qualitative data gathering and syndemic and community-based participatory approaches, this research project seeks to understand how perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality affect the health seeking behaviors of African Americans with HIV. This project is a new collaboration between a multi-disciplinary and ethnically diverse group of HIV investigators affiliated with the Emory University and Healthcare Systems. Our team includes medical doctors, epidemiologists, and social and education scientists who are committed to a collaborative approach in which community members are seen as partners in the research process.

The student will be presented the opportunity develop, improve, and refine qualitative research skills in project implementation, management, and analysis.

The REAL Student will assist with the following activities:

• Development of qualitative research tools through the creation of a focus group discussion guide to be used during data collection.
• Data collection during focus group discussions between the research team and project participants.
• Iterative editing to focus group discussion guides used during qualitative data collection.
• Communicating with potential research participants through recruitment and focus group scheduling.
• Conducting informed consent conversations with research participants and obtaining consent from research participants.
• Scheduling of data collection, logging of data collected, incentives tracking, and overall management of research materials in collaboration with the research team and primary investigators.
• Participation in regular team update meetings.
• Development of qualitative codebook for use during analysis.
• Assistance with focus group discussion transcription review.
• Qualitative coding of focus group discussion transcriptions.
• Presentation of qualitative analysis research findings and results; participation in manuscript drafting and preparation.

This REAL position will enhance student skills in:

• Qualitative research methods including development of qualitative data collection tools, qualitative coding and analysis.
• Qualitative research analysis and results presentation
• Participant recruitment and effective communication with study participants. This would include explaining the research study to participants as well as obtaining informed consent from research participants.
• Preparation of research articles and/or conference abstracts/presentations for submission.

Ideal REAL Student Qualities:

• Current 2nd year MPH student, or 1st year with significant Qualitative research experience, at Rollins School of Public Health
• Concentration in Epidemiology, Global Health, or Behavioral Science and Health Education
• Interest in and understanding of qualitative research methods and analysis. Experience in either strongly desired.
• Strong independent working skills alongside ability to work efficiently in a team.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to participate in the facilitation of virtual and in-person focus group discussions
• Willingness to be flexible

How to Apply 

Click here to read more about this REAL opportunity and apply on Handshake! 

Surveillance Research Intern, American Cancer Society

Role Description

Graduate Research Assistant, PRISM

Role Description

NTD-SC Quantitative RCT Intern, Task Force for Global Health

Role Description

The NTD-Support Center is a program within the Task Force that supports operational research on shared issues confronting 5 diseases. The mission of the NTD-SC is to provide the technical assistance and problem-solving research necessary to ensure a strong scientific base for the massive global public health effort currently underway to eliminate NTDs. The NTD-SC is also the secretariat for the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD).

NTD-SC is seeking a REAL student to support a clinical trial on morbidity management and disability prevention for lymphatic filariasis, the LEDoxy trial. The trial assesses if treatment with doxycycline reduces the progression of lymphedema in those with early stages of the disease.

The student will support the LEDoxy Study in data cleaning, management, and reporting.

Student Assistants, Scholarly Communications Office

Position Description

The Scholarly Communications Office seeks a graduate student to assist with the maintenance of the Emory digital repository, OpenEmory, the Electronic Theses & Dissertations Repository, and the Emory research data repository, Dataverse. The student will assist in the creation of new repository records, assessment of journal publisher policies, review of faculty CVs, and the clean-up of existing repository records. The student may be asked to assist with marketing activities, including creating/updating brochures and other promotional materials, event planning, and other clerical projects for the Scholarly Communications Office as needed.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the position is 100% remote until the Emory Libraries are again open at full capacity and members of the Scholarly Communications Office receive sign-off to return to the office.

Position Details 

• Team: Scholarly Communications Office 
• Hourly Rate: $11.50
• Available openings: 2
• Hours Per Week: 10
• Work Schedule: At employees discretion during normal business hours (M-F, 8-5pm, remote)

Requirements

Qualifications (knowledge, skill and/or experience) required:

• Required: Basic computer skills, particularly web searching, Word and Excel
• Interest in publishing and/or copyright
• Interest in research data archiving and sharing
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple work assignments
• Attention to detail and time management skills
• Ability to work independently and efficiently
• Responsible, personable, and dependable

How to Apply 

If interested in this position, email Melanie T. Kowalski at LITS-studentjobs [at] emory [dot] edu.  

COVID-19 Contact Tracer & Case Investigator, Georgia DPH

Position Summary

The Georgia Department of Public Health is looking for students to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing efforts. Students will be assigned to assist one of the 18 public health districts according to proximity and will be assigned to a district team for contact tracing in that district. Initially students will work remotely and will need access to a computer and phone. There may be opportunity to also work locally. All students will be required to do a web-based training and will receive training materials for the contact tracing system. The web based provided by the Department of Public Health is required.

Job Responsibilities

Contact Tracer:

• Understand Contact Interviewing and Contact Tracing in the context of a pandemic
• Basic introduction into the standardized processes of Contact Interviewing and Contact Tracing
• Conducting Interviews
• Documentation of Interviews in a digital system
• Introduction to Daily Work Flow
• Response to Common Requests and Referral for Testing

Case Investigator:

The Case Investigator will call, and interview confirmed cases of COVID-19 according to established protocols, and provide them with instructions for isolation, identify close contacts and answer questions about COVID-19. Case Investigators are required to follow all scripts, policies and procedures provided by DPH, and comply with DPH training regarding confidential information related to personal information.

• Understand the Case Investigation, testing, and contact tracing process in the context of a pandemic
• Call and conduct interviews with people with a positive test for COVID-19 to provide instructions and gather information, which is input to the digital system
• Identify close contacts of cases and input to the digital system
• Respond to common questions and provide information/recommendations regarding isolation
• Communicate with cases in a professional and empathetic manner
• Collect information on symptoms during the call and record into digital system
• Coordinate with Care Resource Coordinators if necessary, to refer cases to local support resources
• Exhibit critical thinking during interviews to identify trends, gather additional information, and escalate any risks where necessary
• Understand daily workflow and collaborate across the team
• Role may require performing additional COVID-19 response related activities

Minimum Qualifications

Current student or recent graduate of an undergraduate or graduate level program from an accredited degree program

• Ability to exhibit a professional, positive attitude and work ethic
• Excellent interpersonal skills required and ability to interact professionally with culturally diverse individuals during a time of crisis and distress
• Ability to show empathy to distressed individuals
• Excellent organizational and communication skills
• Ability to speak, read, and write English
• Second or multiple languages a plus
• Critical thinking and sound judgment required
• Ability to handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism
• Proficiency with computers

Additional Information

• This position will be in locations across the state.
• This recruitment will fulfill the positions of Contact Tracer and Case Investigator. Recruited candidates will be referred based on education and qualifications.  
• The candidate selected for this position will be subject to a criminal background check.
• This experience can count as part of a practicum or applied practice experience requirements.
• Hours may include evenings and weekends (20-29 hours weekly).
• Minimum 20 hours; Maximum 40 hours

How to Apply

• Application deadline: September 1, 2020
• Click here to read more about this position and apply online!

Graduate Research Assistant, Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance

Opportunity Description 

There is an opening for a temporary student opportunity with the Child Health and Mortality Surveillance Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS). They are looking to hire a student ($13.50/hour) for the fall semester to assist the Lab and Diagnostics team print cassettes for the Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) specimen collection kits. Additionally, the GRA will assist the Site Management team to update COVID-19 response tables, associated metadata tables, and site performance management plans. The GRA will have to be in the office (1599 building) to print the cassettes, but other assigned duties can be conducted remotely.  

How to Apply 

All interested students should email their resume to Dianna Blau at bvv1 [at] cdc [dot] gov.

Student Assistant, Health Services Research Center

Opportunity Description

A team at the Health Services Research centering is currently leading a literature review that will inform a future grant submission, and looking for a student to help. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the effect of electronic clinical decision support tools on increasing adherence to guidelines for evidence-based medicine compared with routine care without electronic clinical decision support tools. Their team has a good track record of publications on systematic reviews, and has identified the search strategy and identified ~200 articles ready for abstraction. They are now seeking a student to get involved in helping with this data abstraction. The student will learn about methods to perform systematic reviews and meta-analysis of clinical trials. The student will also earn co-authorship (2nd author) for this exciting paper.

Contact Information

Please contact Ram Jagannathan at ram [dot] jagannathan [at] emory [dot] edu if you are interested and can commit at least 7 hours per week to this project in the next 2 months. The position starts in September. So, if you can commit time to help out, they would love to have you join the team!

Graduate Research Assistant, Emory-Einstein TB/HIV Research Group

Position Description 

Undergrad Sociology TA Position, Department of Sociology

Description 

The Emory College Department of Sociology has an opening for an MPH student to serve as a TA for a Fall 2020 undergraduate class (Introduction to Sociology).  TAs are expected to work 10-12 hours per week (more some weeks, less in others).  A TA is needed for SOC 101 – Introduction to Sociology. The course meets synchronously online Tues 2:40-3:55PM and there is a second asynchronous session per week.  The instructor is Tony Healy.

Position Details

• Duties may include attending class; grading of exams and/or papers; proctoring exams; assisting with classroom activities; leading in-class discussion groups; assisting with administrative activities.
• The pay is $1500 per course, a one-time payment.  If the enrollment reaches 60 (very likely) the pay is increased to $1800.  Course texts are provided.

How to Apply

If you are interested (or might be in a future semester), and to learn more, please contact Ellen Idler, DGS Sociology: eidler [at] emory [dot] edu