Graduate Research Assistants

The Rutgers University Center for State Health Policy (Center), within the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research (IFH), is recruiting up to five graduate research assistants (RAs) to support ongoing research projects. We expect the RA to contribute up to 20 hours per week, at a rate of $22-$28 per hour, depending on relevant experience and qualifications.

Please apply by emailing a cover letter with a description of your relevant skills, course work, and experience, a resume/CV and 2 references to the contacts linked below. Review of applications will begin immediately and proceed until the position is filled.

Supporting Evaluation of NJ FamilyCare (Medicaid) Section 1115 Demonstration Program

UP TO 1 HIRE | CLICK TO APPLY

The candidate will work under the direct supervision of Dr. Ann M. Nguyen, PhD, Associate Research Professor and Jennifer Farnham, MS, Senior Research Manager and will join a team with deep expertise in Medicaid programs and policies. The role will focus on the evaluation of five community health worker (CHW) pilot programs, which will use qualitative, survey, and quantitative research methods to harmonize and examine the implementation and impact of the programs on their Medicaid members. 

The selected candidate will receive strong policy and research mentorship and be given the opportunity to participate in policy meetings with senior state officials, as appropriate, and be introduced to a broad array of health policy stakeholders in New Jersey. They may also have opportunities to support other Medicaid demonstration program components (e.g., maternity plans, housing support, managed long term services and supports, and developmental disabilities) and the Center’s broader health services research portfolio.

The RA will focus on supporting the qualitative and survey data collection, management, and analysis, with guidance from faculty and staff. They will also have a key role in general research support, including coordinating meetings and taking notes, and updating IRB research protocols and data collection instruments based on stakeholder feedback.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Schedule and conduct key informant qualitative interviews and focus groups as required for specific research projects
• Conduct rigorous literature reviews to inform the development of interview and focus group protocols, survey instruments, and related documents
• Draft interview materials, including interview guides and consent forms
• Update survey instrument based on stakeholder feedback
• Prepare and submit IRB applications
• Complete coding and analysis of qualitative data using standard qualitative software such as ATLAS.ti
• Draft findings reports and presentations for principal investigator (PI) review
• Maintain project work plans to ensure that timelines are met and deliverables are received from internal and external members of the project teams
• Schedule project meetings and prepare agendas and other necessary materials as requested by the project PI
• Circulate post-meeting notes to the project team
• Assist PI in preparing briefing memos for policymakers
• Contribute to interim and final administrative reports for project funders
• Understand and adhere to Rutgers’ compliance standards as they appear in Rutgers Health’s Corporate Compliance Policy, Code of Conduct, and Conflict of Interest Policy.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Advanced qualitative and survey research skills are highly preferred but not required, including knowledge of ATLAS.ti. Those with intermediate experience must be committed to completing additional training. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

• Currently enrolled in a graduate degree program (e.g., MSc, PhD) in a field relevant to population health, including but not limited to Economics, Demography, Quantitative Sociology, Health Policy, Public Policy, Biostatistics, Statistics, or Health Services Research.
• Qualitative research skills are highly preferred including knowledge of ATLAS.ti.
• Survey research skills are highly preferred.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Self-driven and independent but also enjoys being a member of a collaborative, interdisciplinary research team.

Supporting NIH-Funded Study of Homelessness and Maternal and Child Health

UP TO 2 HIRES | CLICK TO APPLY

Up to two candidates will join the study team of an NIH-funded quantitative study on the impact of homelessness and housing services on maternal and infant health. The candidates will work under the direct supervision of Drs. Mark McGovern, Associate Professor at the School of Public Health and Dan Treglia, Instructor at the Center for State Health Policy and the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, and will join a growing research team with a strong publication and funding track record. The project will have a strong focus on health equity, with the goal of using advanced quantitative methods to identify how housing policy can be used to address health disparities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manages research data (e.g. cleans data, creates new variables)
• Assists with analysis and interpretation of data (e.g. descriptive analysis and regression analysis).
• Performs others administrative research support (e.g. literature reviews, gathering and synthesis of policy documents, administrative duties).
• Prepares and/or compiles data and analyses for reports and publications.
• Writes and assists with writing blog posts, policy briefs, reports, and journal articles.
• Understand and adhere to Rutgers’ compliance standards as they appear in Rutgers Health’s Corporate Compliance Policy, Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Quantitative data skills are required, including knowledge of Stata or R. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty at a high level. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

• Currently enrolled in a graduate degree program (e.g., BA, MSc, PhD) in a quantitative field relevant to population health, including but not limited to Economics, Demography, Quantitative Sociology, Health Policy, Public Policy, Biostatistics, Statistics, or Health Services Research.
• Quantitative data skills are required including knowledge of Stata or R.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Team player, with experience in collaborative and interdisciplinary research. 

Supporting Hospital Market Consolidation Research Project

UP TO 2 HIRES | CLICK TO APPLY

Up to two candidates will be selected to support a study titled Hospital Market Consolidation and Access to Quality Healthcare in New Jersey. This project will be conducted by the Center in partnership with the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and the Department of Economics and is supported by the New Jersey State Policy Lab. The candidate will work with principal investigators Joel Cantor, ScD, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Center for State Health Policy, Bingxiao Wu, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics, and Derek DeLia, PhD, Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Bloustein School.

This project will draw on 14 years (2010-2023) of all-payer, universal hospital billing record data from the NJ Integrated Population Health Data (iPHD) Project to examine the trend in hospital market concentration and its association with changes in healthcare access and quality, especially in historically underserved populations. We will examine four primary quality and access outcomes: 

• 30-day inpatient readmission rate, an indicator of gaps in inpatient care quality.
• 14-day return to the emergency department (ED) after discharge rate, an indicator of gaps in inpatient care quality
• Distance traveled for hospital care, an indicator of access to care.
• Admission rates of patients from underserved populations, a measure of changes in segregation and disparities in access to care. 

We will also explore measures of possible consolidation-related effects of changes in community ambulatory care capacity, i.e., rates of avoidable (i.e., “ambulatory care sensitive”) inpatient stays and ED visits. All analyses will test whether outcomes vary by race/ethnicity and expected source of payment (i.e., self-pay/uninsured, Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance).

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Search and summarize published literature on the relationship between hospital market consolidation and healthcare cost, access, and quality of care and related issues.
• Prepare analytic datasets from NJ Hospital Discharge Data System uniform billing (UB) record data (see https://iphd.rutgers.edu/data) and publicly available archival data related to health system consolidation (e.g., hospital mergers and acquisitions) and market characteristics; and create UB data-based healthcare access and quality measures based on published specifications.
• Conduct descriptive analyses including tabulations and visualizations of trends in health system consolidation and healthcare access and quality by New Jersey hospital market and population characteristics
• Using econometric methods and under direction of project investigators, test hypotheses about the relationship between health system market consolidation and healthcare access and quality of care outcomes.
• Serve as lead and/or collaborating author on several blogs of 300-500 words over the course of the project related to study goals and results.
• Contribute to writing the study final report, peer-reviewed manuscript(s), and issue briefs reporting study findings; to the extent that the RA makes substantive contributions to these projects they will be listed as a co-author.
• The RAs may also be asked to participate in oral briefings on study findings of key policy audiences.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

A shared office space will be made available at the Center, although the RAs may work offsite through a secure remote-access portal. The RAs will be required to meet as often as weekly via Zoom or in person with study investigators but may otherwise select their own work hours. The RAs will also be required to regularly report on their hours worked and duties performed. 

The RAs may propose addressing additional hypotheses for their own research so long as this research is consistent with the approved research project and approved by the principal investigator. Compensation is not available for time spent on such additional work.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

• Current PhD or advanced master’s student at Rutgers University.
• Demonstrated excellence in English-language written and oral communication skills, preferably including experience as a lead or contributing author to peer-reviewed journal articles or other publications.
• Ability to work independently under general supervision.
• Completed CITI human subjects research certification and ability to complete work with utmost research integrity in a timely, reliable manner.
• Completed coursework in, and experience applying, multi-variable statistical methods, preferably including econometric causal-inference methods.
• Demonstrated proficiency in a statistical programming language (e.g., SAS, STATA, R) and ability to meticulously assemble, edit, and analyze large datasets.
• Completed coursework in microeconomics, healthcare economics and/or industrial organization. Course(s) in health systems that include content relevant to health economics may also be acceptable.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:  Standing, sitting, talking or hearing. No special vision requirements.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: Hybrid position based on the needs of the project PI’s.