Research Assistant Jobs

The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has raised over $1.9 billion and launched more than 1,300 programs impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of programs in the United States and in more than 90 countries last year. Visit www.cdcfoundation.org for more information.

Overview

The Research Assistant will support a project that monitors electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use among youth in select cities and states throughout the United States (US). The multi-state initiative aims to augment existing national- and state-level surveillance activities related to youth tobacco product use in the US by providing more timely and detailed data. The project will be implemented via a three-pillar approach: 1) analyzing real-time data on retail sales of e-cigarettes; 2) leveraging web-based surveys in select cities and states; and 3) implementing a national longitudinal survey of youth and young adults. This Research Assistant will primarily support the survey pillars but may be asked to support other project activities as needed.

The Research Assistant will assist with questionnaire edits and testing, dataset reviews and calculating descriptive statistics. The Research Assistant will also support research related activities, including conducting literature reviews on relevant e-cigarette and tobacco/nicotine product research questions and assisting with documentation for meetings and deliverables.

The staff member will be hired by the CDC Foundation and work closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH). This is an outstanding opportunity to work with the nation’s lead agency charged with protecting the public's health.

This position is eligible for 100% remote work for US-based candidates; however, candidates in the Washington, D.C. or Boston, M.A. area are preferred. Relocation expenses are not included.

Job Highlights

• Location: Remote
• FLSA Classification: Exempt
• Reports to: Technical Advisor or Public Health Analyst
• Position Title: Research Assistant
• Term: This is a limited term, grant-funded opportunity

Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist with the development, submission and updating of research protocols and documentation required by the Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Assist with quality control (QC) checking estimates for tables, reports and presentations
• Travel up to 10 percent domestically
• Conduct policy scans on various tobacco and nicotine-related topics
• Collaborate with internal and external subject matter experts and project partners
• Calculate descriptive statistics to be used in summary tables and other ad hoc data requests
• Other duties and projects as assigned
• Support the development of comprehensive reports that include findings from the analysis and evaluation of project activities
• Assist with questionnaire edits and testing programmed surveys from various response profiles to ensure questions are correct and skip/display logic is working correctly
• Retrieve and review articles, reports and statistics for literature reviews
• Complete administrative tasks such as scheduling meetings, taking and summarizing meeting minutes and documenting progress towards deliverables

Qualifications

• Strong written and oral communication skills, including the preparation and presentation of reports
• Bachelor’s degree in public health, statistics, epidemiology, biostatistics, public policy, psychology or related field required
• Strong interpersonal, teamwork and collaboration skills
• Self-starter with ability to be efficient and consistently deliver high-quality work under time constraints
• Strong technical skills, including word processing, spreadsheet and database management
• One year of related work experience, including paid internships or part-time positions within public health, health administration or social sciences
• Prior experience with or interest in tobacco control and/or research strongly preferred

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law.

We comply with all applicable laws including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R.

• 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans

The CDC Foundation is a smoke-free environment.

Relocation expenses are not included.