Research Project Assistant

EcoHealth Alliance seeks a highly organized, collaborative and self-driven research project assistant to help ensure the smooth planning and execution of EcoHealth Alliance’s research to improve the understanding of the causes of febrile illness of unknown origin and associated risk factors in Liberia. This is a One Health position and will involve interacting with teams working on public health and veterinary health aspects of research. The Research Project Assistant will interact with project partners and researchers working in Liberia and other U.S.-based and international collaborators. The Research Project Assistant will work with the Senior Scientist on analyses of pathogen transmission from domestic and wild animals to people with data gathered from this project. The Research Project Assistant’s primary duties will include supporting EcoHealth Alliance’s Liberia projects with data curation, data quality assurance, survey implementation, supporting collaborations between EcoHealth Alliance and local partners in various countries, assistance in writing manuscripts and grants, preparing presentations, preparation of reports, procuring and maintaining approvals and permits, and other project administrative tasks. The Research Project Assistant will be expected to participate in regular meetings. The Research Project Assistant will also provide necessary administrative support to the supervisor and to other staff as required, such as facilitating the timely submission of credit card reports, per diem forms, and other EcoHealth Alliance financial forms. The Research Project Assistant will be supervised by the Senior Scientist and overseen by the Executive Vice President for Health and Policy of EcoHealth Alliance. The Research Project Assistant will be based at EcoHealth Alliance headquarters in New York with regular multiple-week travel to Liberia.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

·      Work on the Liberia Febrile Illness project and other projects that broadly integrate environmental, animal, and human health data into emerging disease and zoonotic disease models

·      Manage and assist with data curation using GitHub, R, ODK and Airtable for improved integration of data

·      Support grant administration, including proposals, reporting, contracting, coordinating invoicing, and payments

·      Assist with management and budgeting for grants, including ensuring drafting reports on time and reminders about updates and contacting funding agencies

·      Assist in project management and provide administrative support for the project manager

·      Maintain finances, reimbursements, and expense coding for supervisor and self

·      Maintain collaborations with Liberia project leaders by organizing regular calls to obtain progress reports and improve project-wide communication

·      Assist in the maintenance of laboratory sample inventories and consumables inventories for project partners

·      Monitor laboratory sampling schedules to ensure timely completion of required activities

·      Assist in the development of Standard Operating Procedures and Job Aid documentation for laboratory and field work partners

·      Provide analytical support to EcoHealth Alliance scientists

·      Take meeting minutes and generate draft agendas for meetings

·      Participate in all relevant meetings at EcoHealth Alliance

·      Represent EcoHealth Alliance and work with stakeholders and collaborators

·      Some foreign travel may be required

OTHER DUTIES

·      Work to ensure smooth functioning of programs at EcoHealth Alliance.

·      Conduct literature reviews to provide detailed background for grant proposals, scientific manuscripts, and other project needs.

·      Assist with high quality scientific manuscripts for publication.

·      Assist with the development of other projects related to the EcoHealth Alliance programs.

·      Assist with outreach to donors, media contacts, potential collaborators, and other institutions.

·      Participate in other projects and tasks as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

·      BS or BA and 2 year of similar work experience, or a Masters degree in Biology, Epidemiology, Public Health, Data Science, Statistics, or related field

·      Strong quantitative analytical skills

·      Experience with basic statistical analyses, particularly using R

·      Experience with laboratory bench work a plus

·      Ability to conduct literature reviews, data collation and cleaning, and exploratory data analyses

·      Excellent oral and written communication skills

·      Proven ability to work independently

·      Strong interest in One Health

·      A strong sense of team spirit and diplomacy

·      Previous experience in public health or infectious diseases

·      Willingness to adjust working schedule according to international time zones

·      Cultural sensitivity

·      Fluency in English