Department: | Centre for Contact Lens Research | September 1, 2008 | |
Grade: |
USG 3 35 hr/wk |
Reports to: | Administrtor of the Centre for Contact Lens Research |
This position is accountable to the Administrator of the Centre for Contact Lens Research (CCLR). It requires the incumbent to be involved in two distinctive and integral responsibilities within the CCLR. Approximately two-thirds of the incumbent’s time will be spent assisting with the recruitment of study participants. The remaining time will involve assisting the data management team with data entry and checking.
The Centre for Contact Lens Research is a semi-autonomous unit located in the School of Optometry which works in partnership with the contact lens industry to conduct clinical and basic research in order to understand the eye’s response to contact lens wear. It has a major role in the support of the development of contact lenses and related products and is world renowned for its research in this area.
The Recruitment/Data Management Assistant will work alongside the other member(s) of the recruitment team to ensure that the requirements are met for each study with regard to number and profile of study participants. This will require the incumbent to interact frequently with the University of Waterloo employees and students as well as members of the local community and the normal work hours will include regularly scheduled early evening hours. S/he will also assist the data management team with the transfer of study data collected in a clinical setting into an electronic database that is study specific in its design. This requires an understanding of the acceptable standards of practice employed by the CCLR to ensure a high level of confidence that the data collected is the data that is presented as the end result of the study.
The Recruitment/Data Management Assistant plays an essential role to both the CCLR recruitment and data management teams. Both roles require fundamentally different skill sets and priorities. The challenge to the incumbent will be to manage his/her time so as to balance each set of responsibilities and ensure that all deadlines are met.
The CCLR currently has an operating budget in excess of $2.5 million and completes at least 25 studies per year. It is currently housed in a 5,000 sq ft facility and supports the following:
3 faculty members
12 research personnel
17 staff members
5 graduate students
In addition to internal School of Optometry and University of Waterloo departments/personnel, the CCLR is currently associated with 10 of the leading contact lens companies as well as other academic institutions involved in contact lens research. It maintains a database of at least 3,000 potential study participants with approximately 2,000 participants enrolled in various studies annually.