Tobacco Treatment Specialist/Behavioral Science Research Assistant

To apply:  Please do not apply on Handshake and instead, please complete the online interest form (PDFs of your cover letter, resume, and unofficial transcript are required). Please note: you will need to sign-in to the form with a Google/Gmail account.  

Behavioral Science Research Assistant (1 position)

June 2026: Are you looking for clinical and research experience before applying to graduate school or medical school? Join our team to work on NIH-funded behavioral research studies concerning lung cancer screening and smoking cessation interventions among people at high risk for lung cancer or who have already been diagnosed with cancer. This is a hybrid position (involving both remote and in person work) and is located in Washington, DC.

We are hiring a full-time paid staff position starting in June 2026, with a competitive benefits package. If you are interested in health-related behavioral science research and looking for ways to prepare for graduate school in public health, psychology or medical school, then consider becoming part of a collaborative clinical research team under the supervision of Dr. Randi Williams and Dr. Kathryn Taylor at Georgetown University. Please see our website https://lunghealth.georgetown.edu/

Job Responsibilities Include:

• Undergoing training to become a tobacco treatment specialist, with advanced skills in motivational interviewing counseling techniques.
• Conducting phone-based tobacco dependence treatment with older adult participants (50-80 years old) and with patients diagnosed with cancer (40-70 years old).
• Conducting phone-based participant recruitment, eligibility screening, and consent.
• Conducting phone-based participant data collection, including structured interviews and other assessments.
• Managing  data in our REDCap study databases and conducting data analyses, data checking, and quality assurance.
• Assisting with coordinating the clinical trial, including scheduling and tracking participants
• Training and supervising undergraduate students and delegating lab responsibilities
• Assisting with study administrative tasks (e.g., materials mailings, incentive tracking)
• Coordinating with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to maintain research compliance and following an IRB-approved protocol

Research Opportunities Offered:

• Working with our entire team to learn about our other research studies concerning lung cancer screening and smoking cessation interventions
• Potential for contributing to abstracts, manuscripts, and grants as well as serving as co-author on presentations and publications
• Working collaboratively with healthcare professionals from a range of disciplines
• Excellent preparation for graduate school in behavioral science and medical school.

Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree (by time of start date) in pre-med, psychology, or other behavioral science is required.  Experience in clinical (human subjects) and behavioral science research is also required. 

A two-year commitment is required. Two years is the length of time needed to gain full competence in the position and for us to write a detailed letter of recommendation that is based on your work with our team (usually after 15-18 months in the position).  

Additional Recommended Qualifications:

Experience working with IRBs, using electronic health records, data processing and statistical software (e.g. REDCap, Tableau, Microsoft Excel, SPSS, SAS, R); Experience working in clinical settings, clinical research labs, and advanced coursework in social/behavioral science; Prior CITI Human Subjects training.

Salary range:, $22-$23 per hour  

To apply:  Please do not apply on Handshake.  Instead, please complete the online interest form (PDFs of your cover letter, resume, and unofficial transcript are required). Please note: you will need to sign-in to the form with a Google/Gmail account.  

To learn more about our research lab, visit: https://lunghealth.georgetown.edu/ and to learn more about the principal investigators, please see Dr. Taylor’s and Dr. Williams’ research profiles.