It takes a lot of very smart, hard-working and talented people to provide the level of care that we give to our patients. Tufts Medical Center is an internationally respected academic medical center and we pride ourselves not only on the sophistication of the care we deliver, but the compassionate way in which we provide it. And that starts with our employees.

I. GENERAL SUMMARY:

The Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS) at Tufts Medical Center is seeking a Research Assistant for December 2022 to May 2023 to support research aimed at understanding the impact of the “cliff effect” on the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC)’s program participants and child care workforce. The cliff effect is defined as “drop in public supports that occur when earnings go up” (Albeda and Carr, 2016), with examples of public supports being SNAP benefits, affordable housing, transportation and utilities subsidies that have income ceilings for eligibility. BCNC staff has shared concerns among their staff and program participants that increasing work hours or wages could jeopardize their eligibility for public supports.

The selected candidate will join the multidisciplinary research team of MyDzung Chu, PhD, MSPH (ICRHPS), Elaine Donnelly, PhD, MS, M.Ed (Tisch College), and Man Yung (Yoyo) Yau, MA, LMHC (BCNC) as part of the Tisch Faculty Fellowship on Civic Engagement. Through this Fellowship, the team seeks to better understand the types and impacts of “cliff effects” in public supports on BCNC’s program participants and childcare workforce. In addition, the team seeks to understand cultural and population-specific contexts of the cliff effect in the Asian, working class communities in Greater Boston, and primarily among immigrant women who are the predominant childcare workers. This multidisciplinary project spans the disciplines of social and public policy, civic engagement, direct service, workforce development, and social-structural determinants of health.

The RA will support various aspects of the project, including literature reviews, survey design and administration, focus group interviews with BCNC program participants and child care staff; data analyses, and summarizing findings in presentations and a paper. Long-term, this work will provide critical understanding about the impacts of the cliff effect in the Asian immigrant communities, with implications to other communities of color. It also formalizes key partnerships and will facilitate future collaborations and grant proposals to assess the impacts of this structural barrier on physical and psychological health and identify potential solutions to address it.

Supervision and Timeline: The Research Assistant will be jointly supervised by Dr. Chu and Dr. Donnelly. The appointment is part-time beginning December 2022 to May 2023 (approximately 8-10 hours/week).

II. PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Conduct a literature review, synthesis, and write-up
• Develop and implement surveys and focus group interviews
• Conduct survey and qualitative data analyses
• Assist in the preparation of manuscripts, grant proposals, reports, and presentations to diverse audiences

III. JOB REQUIREMENTS:

A. JOB KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills, attention to detail.
• Proficiency in a statistical software (e.g. R, Stata, SAS)
• Proficiency in computer applications for word processing and spreadsheet preparation in Microsoft Office Suite (e.g. Word, Excel).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working in the Greater Boston Asian American communities
• Multilingual, able to community in English and Chinese (Mandarin and/or Cantonese)
• Experience conducting interviews and qualitative data analyses
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, orally and in writing, at both technical and non-technical levels.
• Ability to work independently and with a team, and solve problems creatively.

B. EDUCATION:

• Tufts University degree-seeking student with an interest in community health.

C. EXPERIENCE:

• Experience in literature review, data management, and data analyses.

An equivalent combination of education and experience which provides proficiency in the areas of responsibility listed above may be substituted for the above education and experience requirements.

LICENSES, ETC. :

• Not Applicable

IV. WORKING CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Typical clinical and administrative office setting.
• Must be able to perform all essential functions of this position with reasonable accommodation if disabled.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES STATEMENT:

Must be able to perform all essential functions of this position with reasonable accommodation if disabled.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be construed, as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel so classified. Tufts Medical Center reserves the right to modify position duties at any time, to reflect process improvements and business necessity.

COVID-19 POLICY:

Please note that effective October 1, 2021, as a condition of employment at Tufts Medical Center, all employees and new hires must have received their complete dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, unless they have been granted an exemption.