Assistant Project Coordinator

The Project Coordinator will primarily support a national study of emergency department opioid overdose prevention, managed through the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine. The incumbent will oversee all activities related to the planning, coordination, management, and timely completion of tasks related to the Evaluating Microdosing in the Emergency Department (EMED) study evaluating buprenorphine/naloxone provision from emergency departments. Other responsibilities include translating study protocols, monitoring study processes, and developing systematic methods for data collection. The Project Coordinator will monitor study progress, produce reports, assist with financial management for research accounts, and ensure that standard operating procedures are followed to ensure quality control for the EMED study.

Organizational Status

The vision of the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine is to be a provincially integrated Department committed to clinical and academic leadership in the creation and exchange of knowledge to promote excellence in emergency care. Our 600+ faculty members across the province have had an impressive record of research and discovery. Our research and innovation initiatives include 14 successful programs related to prevention of emergencies, improving clinical care, and system improvements. Our Emergency Medicine Royal College residency training program, distributed across 4 program sites, is the largest in the country. The Department of Emergency Medicine has also played a leadership role in the development and implementation of an Emergency Medicine Network across the province, designed to integrate and translate knowledge to support exceptional emergency care. It provides a rapid and effective avenue to exchange knowledge and experiences to support 1400 practitioners in 108 sites across the province.

The research program has four years of Health Canada and Canadian Institutes of Health Research funding and is of interest to numerous provincial and national stakeholders. Substance and opioid use research is one of the key strategic initiatives of the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine. The research will focus on emergency department screening for patients with substance and opioid use disorders, identification of risk factors among these patients (including patterns and frequency of visits), treatment of overdose (e.g., naloxone and resuscitation approaches), and optimizing management approaches including provision of buprenorphine/naloxone (standard dosing and microdosing) to emergency department patients at risk for overdose.

This position reports directly to the Principal Investigator (PI), but the nature of the work requires independent action. The incumbent has frequent interaction and collaboration with other research team members and with external collaborators including policy makers, data custodians, patient advocates, people with lived experience with substance use, medical students, residents and healthcare professionals both within and outside the Department of Emergency Medicine to plan and conduct research, manage data, and analyze results.

Work Performed

Research Office Duties

• Oversees all activities related to the EMED study, a randomized controlled trial of buprenorphine/naloxone standard dosing and microdosing in emergency departments, including planning, coordination, management, and timely completion of current and future study tasks.
• Develops training resources for the national study emergency department screening for opioid use and buprenorphine provision, and for other studies as required.
• Onboards, trains and supervises research assistants for the national study of emergency department opioid overdose prevention.
• Monitors studies’ progress to ensure that deadlines are met (including reporting requirements), milestones achieved, and research is conducted in compliance with study procedures.
• Ensures adherence to standard operating procedures and ensures quality control for ongoing studies.
• Assists with site visits to train hospital and research staff on study protocols and ensure compliance with protocol.
• Assists with management of research expenses, research accounts, payment of research expenses, preparing financial reports and budgets for all studies being undertaken.
• Coordinates communication of research projects including informing relevant parties, ensuring study compliance and liaising with sponsor agencies.

Research Study Duties

• Contributes to grant submissions by revising applications, comparing materials to grant guidelines, organizing co-investigators, tracking deadlines, completing research project information forms, and obtaining signatures.
• Assists with editing reports and manuscripts, and preparing them for submission.
• Oversees technical aspects of research studies including: patient screening and enrollment procedures, contracting with pharmacy to create and store buprenorphine packages, liaising with hospital and community healthcare and support services, aggregating and summarizing results, and records management.
• Promote the Emergency Substance and Opioid Use Program through email communication, newsletters, development of a webpage, social media and other methods.
• Participates in research team meetings and rounds: sets agenda, prepares and presents financial reports, prepares and presents project updates, takes minutes.
• Assists with Research Ethics Board (REB) applications and submission of ongoing reporting requirements
• Organizes hospital approvals for conducting research and grant applications.
• Any other duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

The Project Coordinator exercises professional judgment and initiative in the conduct of and in managing clinical research studies. Working closely with other members of the research team, the Assistant Project Coordinator ensures that study procedures are performed consistent with the study protocol, applicable hospital procedures, ethical guidelines and regulatory policies. The Assistant Project Coordinator is expected to work in a professional manner exercising poise and discretion especially when dealing with vulnerable patients and their families, and with sensitive medical information. Inappropriate disclosure of research participants' personal information would contravene privacy legislation and could result in legal action. Errors in data, reference materials or publications if detected, would result in delays, requiring additional resources to obtain or validate data. Establishing effective working relationships within the team and with other program stakeholders is essential in the success of the research program. Inability to establish and foster effective working relationships may affect the integrity of the program and the successful and timely completion of research projects. This could compromise the Department's ability to secure funding for future projects, or to engage in multi-stakeholder projects in the future.

Supervision Received

The incumbent will work under the supervision of the Principal Investigator, Dr. Jessica Moe. The incumbent works independently on a day to day basis with minimal direction from the PI and regularly reports to the PI for updates, results and discussion of upcoming research work. Senior members of the study team will provide additional direction to this role.

Supervision Given

The incumbent will work in collaboration with research coordinators on the team to provide supervision, guidance, training, and support to research assistants, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, patient partners, volunteering undergraduate students, co-op students and other collaborators in the group.

Minimum Qualifications

Completion of a university degree in a relevant discipline or technical program and a minimum four years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Some positions may require a graduate degree.

- 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

Education: Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Master's degree in Science, Health Science, Public Health or related field preferred.

Experience: Minimum of two years of related experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience with research and/or project coordination is preferred. Experience with clinical research, knowledge translation, medical terminology, basic statistics, and project management would be an asset. Experience working in healthcare settings, with knowledge translation activities, policy-makers, and/or people with lived experience with substance use or other vulnerable populations is an asset.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

• Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing.
• Effective interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
• Effective critical thinking and planning skills.
• Ability to maintain accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ability to work effectively independently and in a team environment.
• Ability to exercise tact, discretion and confidentiality in all matters.
• Ability to effectively use computer and database management software, such as MS Word and MS Excel. Experience with REDCap an asset.
• Ability to manage a database.
• Ability to develop and maintain a website.
• Ability to analyze problems, identify key issues, and effectively resolve.
• Ability to prioritize and work effectively under pressure to meet deadlines.
• Ability to prepare and edit documents, reports, communication materials, and technical documentation.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule that may include occasional evenings and weekends