Environmental Health Study Coordinator and Research Assistant

Profile

Organization overview:

Founded in 1994, Silent Spring Institute is the nation’s leading scientific research organization dedicated to uncovering the environmental causes of breast cancer and other disease, with a focus on prevention. Our groundbreaking studies produce new knowledge about the health risks associated with cancer-causing chemicals where we live, work, and play. Since the Institute’s founding, our science and scientific leadership have played a pivotal role in strengthening policies to protect consumers from dangerous chemicals, empowering communities to take action to reduce their exposures, and making breast cancer prevention a national research priority.

Job overview:

We are a collaborative multi-disciplinary team with expertise in exposure science, epidemiology, toxicology, chemistry, social science, and communications. We lead studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and collaborate with investigators at Harvard, UC Berkeley, the Environmental Protection Agency, and elsewhere. Our current research initiatives focus on drinking water contamination, environmental links to breast cancer and asthma, exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds, high-throughput chemical toxicity testing, and community-engaged research. This study coordinator/research assistant position will focus on study coordination, data management, data analysis, and community engagement for novel studies of chemical exposures and toxicity. This position will also involve public communications and proposal development. Our research positions require great versatility in support of the Institute’s transdisciplinary research. 

Responsibilities:

Coordinate recruitment and data collection for study of PFAS health effects in young children in communities with a history of water contamination: develop and follow study protocols, develop sample tracking systems, and interact with study participants.

Provide support for other ongoing studies on household exposures.

Conduct data management and quantitative analysis for environmental exposure data in a range of environmental media, for instance to support a crowdsourced biomonitoring study and novel metabolomics analyses.  

Compile and analyze results from nationwide drinking water data to evaluate environmental justice disparities in contaminant exposure related to drinking water quality.

Compile and analyze toxicity information from a variety of sources.

Develop novel approaches to data exploration and visualization and help develop web applications to communicate findings.

Provide research support, including literature review, assistance in preparation of presentations and manuscripts.

Opportunities to author peer-reviewed articles.

Speak about environmental health issues with community organizations. 

Support proposal preparation for federal and foundation grants.

Some travel.  Some evening and weekend responsibilities, for example, at public events.

Qualifications and skills:

Bachelor’s degree or MPH/MS in public health, environmental health (or related field) and/or equivalent work experience.

Proficiency in using computer applications for word processing, data entry and storage (such as REDCap), spreadsheet preparation, and statistical analysis (such as R).

Excellent academic record; math, statistics, biology, chemistry, and public health coursework an asset. 

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal

High energy, creativity, curiosity, attention to accuracy, and ability to work independently within a multidisciplinary team. 

Commitment to careful and impartial research in a context of partnership between scientists and the public

Benefits:

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. Silent Spring offers g

enerous benefits including health and dental insurance, four weeks of vacation, two personal days and 12 holidays per year. Free on-site parking and

reimbursement for MBTA pass. Join an engaging, multi-disciplinary, and highly-experienced team of professionals dedicated to addressing environmental factors that affect women’s health!

How to apply:

Send a cover letter describing your interests and experience related to this job, resume, writing sample, and copies of academic transcripts to

careers@silentspring.org

with “Study coordinator/research assistant” in the subject line.

Silent Spring Institute is an equal opportunity employer, and we encourage applicants from groups who are traditionally under-represented in STEM. We value diversity and an inclusive work culture, and we do not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, religion, color, national origin, gender identification, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

For more information, visit our website at

www.silentspring.org

Company info

Silent Spring Institute
Phone : 617.332.4288
Fax : 617.332.4284