Research Assistant

Staff - Union

Job Category CUPE 116

Job Profile CUPE 116 Hourly - Research Assistant /Technician 2

Job Title Research Assistant

Department Research Group | Dr. Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen | Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education | Faculty of Education

Compensation Range $27.24 - $29.82 CAD Hourly

Posting End Date May 19, 2024

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above.

Job End Date Jul 31, 2025

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Summary

The Healthy Families Laboratory is a research laboratory in the Department of ECPS at UBC. Under the direction of Dr. Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen (Associate Professor), a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Mental Health and Intersectionality, our team aims to identify risk and protective factors associated with the intergenerational transmission of stress. Specifically, we harness methodology from clinical and counselling psychology, health psychology, and public health to understand risk and resilience factors that contribute to the development of psychological distress in children and their caretakers.

The part-time Research Assistant will work closely with the Lab Coordinator and Principal Investigator, other members of the Healthy Families Lab team, including students and staff, and collaborators at the University of Calgary and the University of Manitoba. They will provide administrative support to the lab and assist in research administration of ongoing projects, including:

1. BEAM-PdP Neuroimaging Study: Around 90% of the successful candidate’s time will be spent on the Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM) program. BEAM is an app-based mental health and parenting program. Our goal is to address maternal mental health and parenting stress through psychoeducation and peer support delivered on a mobile app. The BEAM program seeks to address family health needs through peer coaching, weekly videos, and an online social connection forum. We have conducted several studies testing the efficacy of the BEAM program and recently improved the app interface and the peer coach training program. We have launched neuroimaging at sites in Calgary, AB and Vancouver, BC to examine the impact of perinatal depression and early intervention on child brain development. The first cohort of the current trial will finish the program in mid-July 2024, and we will begin recruiting for the second of five cohorts in September 2024.
2. Pregnancy During the Pandemic (PdP) (10%): Around 10% of the successful candidate’s time will be spent on this longitudinal cohort study that launched in April 2020. Our goal is to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental and physical wellbeing of pregnant individuals and their babies. The babies born during the study are nearing school age, and we are continuing to collect data on parent health and child development.

The Research Assistant will perform a variety of day-to-day activities, including preparing study materials, communicating with patient partners, recruiting and enrolling participants, assisting in data collection for an ongoing longitudinal cohort and randomized controlled trials (RCT), assisting in the submission of ethics amendments, organizing and attending team meetings, and assisting with knowledge translation activities. Due to the sensitive nature of our research, this Research Assistant must understand and adhere to the ethics of confidentiality, sensitivity, and respect when communicating with all research participants.

Organizational Status
The Research Assistant will be supervised by and report to the Lab Coordinator. In accordance with the UBC hybrid work guidelines, the position will offer a flexible workplace environment that includes both remote work and onsite work at UBC and may include some onsite work at the BC Women’s and Children’s Research Institute.

Work Performed
The Research Assistant will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Assist in daily operations of the Healthy Families Lab and affiliated projects
- Assist with research by reading and synthesizing literature
- Work collaboratively with members of the Healthy Families Lab and study teams
- Coordinate with participants and collaborators at BC Women’s and Children’s Research Institute, University of Calgary, and University of Manitoba, as well as other institutions
- Prepare new and maintain existing BEAM study materials (e.g., write participant emails, update protocols, workflows, and participant study guides)
- Create, test, and administer electronic surveys using REDCap and manage survey data, including data cleaning, extraction, and coding
- Recruit and enroll study participants for the BEAM Program
- Manage BEAM study email account and respond to participant inquiries
- Liaise with BEAM app developer and University of Manitoba study team to troubleshoot issues as they arise
- Assist in submitting ethics amendments as needed
- Assist in creating content for knowledge translation (e.g., Healthy Families Lab website, social media accounts, participant newsletter)
- Operate, maintain, and troubleshoot problems with lab equipment
- Order and maintain lab supplies and equipment
- Delegate simple, project-specific tasks to lab volunteers

Consequence of Error/Judgement

Training will be provided to ensure that the Research Assistant will have a strong understanding of the established lab and research protocols. Errors made could influence the ability of research team to meet deadlines, compromise the results of research projects, and relationships with participants, and therefore impact the credibility of the investigators and the lab.

The Research Assistant is required to conduct all research activities in an ethical manner and with adherence to the Tri-Council Policy Statement concerning Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS-2). Any procedures or data recorded as part of this research must be accurate and must accurately reflect the work performed. Strict confidentiality of all study participants must be adhered to. All activities involving participants are accountable to the Research Assistant, Principal Investigator, the Department Head, and the Research Assistant’s governing professional organization (if applicable).

Supervision Received

Most aspects of work will be done under the supervision of the Lab Coordinator. The Research Assistant will work closely with the Principal Investigator’s students (undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral), staff, and collaborators in the Healthy Families Lab.

The Research Assistant will attend weekly supervision meetings with the Lab Coordinator, weekly Healthy Families Lab meetings and study coordination meetings, which will be held onsite and virtually (on Zoom), depending on operational requirements.

Supervision Given
The Research Assistant will assist in seeing out daily lab operations, which may include distributing work and providing mentorship and training to volunteers and undergraduate students.

Minimum Qualifications
High school graduation, some additional training in a related field and a minimum two years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

A bachelor's degree in psychology or related field is preferred. Successful applicants will have proven organization, time management, and communication (written and oral) skills. They will be interested in family health research, be able to work on assigned tasks independently, and have excellent interpersonal skills that support teamwork and professional interactions with participants and collaborators.

The Research Assistant must successfully complete the Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS-2) online tutorial. Experience with MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook), SPSS, and Zoom is required. Experience with constructing and managing electronic surveys (REDCap), perinatal or family health research, and/or neuroimaging protocols would be an asset.