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Clinical Research Associate

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater) (GB)
Salary
£44,288 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
5 Nov 2021

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Job Type
Research Related
Contract Type
Fixed Term
Hours
Full Time

Job Details

Job description

 

• Many people with psychosis continue to have paranoid beliefs, despite the best treatments available. STOP (Successful Treatment of Paranoia) is a new digital health technology (a smartphone app) designed to encourage people with distressing paranoia to develop alternative ways of interpreting their paranoid thoughts. This post is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the development and evaluation of STOP, working as part of a large Medical Research Council award, building on the promising results of earlier work (Savulich et al., 2020,   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2020.101575)

• The development of the mobile app is nearing completion, and we are about to start a 3-year clinical trial to evaluate the app’s efficacy in reducing symptoms of paranoia. This Clinical Research Associate position will lead the trial at the London site and would suit someone with academic interests in cognitive biases, bias modification techniques or paranoia/psychosis. We are looking for an enthusiastic, hard-working person who has plenty of common sense and a ‘can do’ attitude. The post will be attractive to clinical researchers who are passionate about translating basic research findings into useful applications that have the potential to provide downstream benefits for patients in the real world. The post-holder will be clinically qualified (e.g. a recent clinical psychology graduate) and may already have some experience of working in a research setting.  Proven ability to successfully recruit patients into academic research studies would be a distinct advantage. The main responsibilities of the post holder are to ensure recruitment and assessment milestones are met, administer structured clinical interview assessments (and train others to do the same) and monitor and encourage patient adherence. An ability to ensure strong professional relationships are created and maintained with patients taking part in the trial will be key to ensuring the trial’s success. 

 

The post holder will manage a junior researcher and co-supervise of a number of students, including DClinPsy and MSc.  They will report directly to Professor Yiend and will work closely with the project manager. They will need to proactively liaise with the Co-I and team members at the second site (University of Bath) and work with other members of the academic team who include psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, statisticians, the local clinical trials unit, information technology experts and the McPin Foundation who coordinate our service user group. Attending and presenting at team meetings and drafting academic papers and study reports will be an expected part of the role. 

 

While the post is located at the main IOPPN site at Denmark Hill, if circumstances require it, the role can be carried out entirely remotely, for example conducting patient interviews over the phone or online. The successful candidate should be in a position to work both on site and from home, as required. 

• We are looking for someone to start as soon as possible after interview. 

For an informal discussion about the role or your suitability please contact the study’s Principal Investigator Professor Jenny Yiend, jenny.yiend@kcl.ac.uk (07977978655). 

 

This post will be offered on an a fixed-term contract for 36 months 

This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent

 

Key responsibilities

Patient recruitment 

a) Coordinating patient recruitment activity at the London site to ensure that recruitment targets are met, for example by accessing local NHS Trust research registers and disseminating self-referral information. 

b) Supporting junior staff with patient screening and eligibility checks.  

c) Conducting mental capacity assessments, where needed, and clinical diagnostic interview assessments.  

 

Running the trial 

a) Overseeing junior staff in their activities, and contributing to this activity as necessary, including: consent, randomisation, onboarding to the mobile app and assessments.   

b) Ensuring a professional working relationship is established with every trial participant through fortnightly 10 min phone calls following a semi-structured brief.  

c) Coordinating research activity to ensure that staff absences or sickness do not impede trial progress.  

d) Helping to respond to patient queries and problems, including assisting in the management of the study’s generic email accounts.  

e) Supporting the junior staff and project manager with any challenging clinical situations   

 

Administration, Data Handling and Reporting 

a) Being aware of and adhering to the agreed protocol, including ethical procedures, good research practices and standard operating procedures for researchers.  

b) Provide regular reporting of progress against milestones to the project manager 

c) Ensuring trial-related data downloads (from the mobile app) and manual data entry is kept up-to-date 

d) Overseeing the administration of participant payments and reporting on these to the project manager 

e) Preparing written reports on study progress and presenting to the academic team, Trial Steering Group and other relevant meetings on a regular basis, as requested. 

f) Preparing draft academic publications, written study reports and presentations, as requested. 

 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Skills, knowledge, and experience 

Essential criteria 

1. Suitable clinical qualification (e.g. DClinPsy)  

2. Ability to proactively recruit patients into research studies  

3. Competent in administering informed consent procedures with patients 

4. Knowledge or experience of administering clinical diagnostic interviews and  mental capacity assessments 

5. Good attention to detail and high standards of accuracy  

6. Able to work intelligently and independently to achieve set milestones.   

Desirable criteria 

7. Experience of working with patients suffering from paranoia/ psychosis 

8. Experience with digital therapies 

9. Knowledge or experience of clinical trials methodology 

 

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6. 

Further information

This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service and Occupational Health clearance. 

 

Cognitive bias; paranoia; clinical trial  

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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