Junior Specialist - AIR Lab

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, Davis invites applications for a qualified Junior Specialist for the Attention, Impulsivity and Regulation (AIR) Laboratory in the MIND Institute.

This position will be involved in research questions in regard to attention, impulsivity, decision-making in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and typically developing youth and adults. There are currently several projects in the laboratory including: 1) Use of naturalistic methods to assess distractibility in typically developing adolescents and adolescents with ADHD, using virtual reality technology, eye tracking and at home assessments via cell phone responding; 2) Testing a virtual reality intervention to improve attention in children with ADHD; 3) A neuroimaging (fMRI) project testing mechanisms driving attention. Future studies may also include how adolescents and young adults manage their time and use of digital (social media, gaming, etc.) devices. The successful candidate will have completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Human Development, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior or a related field. Experience with collecting data in human participants is highly preferred.

MAJOR RESPONSIBLITIES

The incumbent for this position will be involved in developing experimental tasks to assess attention in middle school or high school academic environments; developing participant recruitment materials; screening potential participants, scheduling appointments with participants, acquiring consent and assent and data from research participants, organizing and cleaning data and performing quality control checks on the data, communicating with parents, teachers, and the participants. Data types include survey (questionnaire) data, eye-tracking, behavioral data, interview data, functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan data, ecological momentary assessment (via cell phone survey) data and related clinical measures.

The incumbent will also assist with research administration (e.g., progress reports, data agreements, project meetings, ordering supplies). Learning how to develop and amend Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols and communication with the IRB will also be a responsibility. Excellent communication with adolescent, parents and young adults, other staff, investigators, and trainees is a critical part of the position. Collecting and reviewing relevant journal articles; engaging in discussions on research and the interpretation of research results and contributing to the writing up of results for publication in scholarly journals and presentations at conferences, with potential for authorship credit.

General responsibilities include:

Specific research and technical activities include:

Developing psychological/academic task materials for testing attention, particularly relevant to high school academic tasks for use in virtual reality classroom

Recruitment of research participants

• Developing participant recruitment materials
• Disseminating recruitment materials and working with UC Davis Public Affairs and Study Pages and the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC), the MIND Institute and other entities in recruitment efforts
• Managing volunteer recruitment and communication
  Scheduling participants for research visits and coordinating with clinicians and other team members conducting visits
  Data collection
• Screen participants; participate in decision making regarding including participants
• Learning how to collect and actively collecting high quality rating scale/survey and clinical, behavioral, eye-tracking, EMA and fMRI data
• Tracking participant progress in studies
• Reaching out to participants and/or family members about their progress and giving them feedback
• Scoring tests to obtain results for standardized psychological tests
• MRI study additional responsibilities
• Coordinate with physicians for screening and prescribing medication
• Working with Investigational Drug Service (IDS) on ordering and picking up medication
• Acquiring vital signs
• Safey checks
• Transferring and uploading data
  Managing data
• Ensuring data are stored carefully and inputted accurately
• Sharing data with team members when necessary
• Documentation of methods and quality assurance activities
• Keeping detailed and updated logs, standard operating procedures for projects
• Participate in collaborative data analysis
  General laboratory procedures
• Develop and/or coordinate procedures across the laboratory members
• Receiving supervision from senior lab members and responding to feedback
  Administrative
• Ordering supplies, preparing compensation forms for participants and other communication with finance team
• Preparing and maintaining IRB documentation and compliance
• Assisting with scheduling meetings, keeping meeting minutes and task planner up to date
• Preparing figures and texts for presentations and manuscripts
• Maintaining social media posts for the laboratory

Participate in weekly discussions of relevant literature; learn to critique journal articles

Review drafts of research grant applications

Contribute to dissemination of research

• Attend and present at conference on research results and assist other laboratory members in research presentations
• Contribute to preparation and writing of manuscripts for publication
  Participate in relevant professional organizations
  Show trainee/student volunteer research assistants how to do data entry and data collection procedures

Participate in committees within the MIND Institute

Participate in volunteer outreach programs within the MIND Institute and educating the public

Department: https://health.ucdavis.edu/psychiatry/

Completed an undergraduate degree in Psychology, Human Development, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior or a related field

Demonstrated ability to maintain punctuality and follow through

Available to work on at least 2 weekends days per month

Strong organizational skills

Experience in working on teams

Experience in working with people with mental/behavioral health conditions, ADHD in particular

Experience in collecting data with human participants

Experience with collecting eye-tracking and MRI data and/or processing eye-tracking and MRI data

Experience in programming/coding, particularly for collecting and organizing data

Experience in virtual reality programming and in artwork for virtual reality programs, such as Unity

Experience with video editing

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

UC Davis is a smoke and tobacco-free campus (http://breathefree.ucdavis.edu/).

We are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, and particularly encourage applications from members of historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, LGBTQ community members, and others who demonstrate the ability to help us achieve our vision of a diverse and inclusive community.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.

For the University of California's Affirmative Action Policy, please visit: https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4010393/PPSM-20

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