Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology is hiring health specialists and health science administrators

June 14, 2022

The Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology (DGCG) at NIA is planning to recruit Health Science Administrators (Program Officers) and Health Specialists in multiple branches within the Division. DGCG supports clinical and translational research on health and disease in the aged, and research on aging over the human life span, including its relationships to health outcomes. Learn more about DGCG leadership and branches.

Interested parties should contact Winnie Rossi.

Program Analyst, Office of the Director, DGCG, NIA Aging Research Biobank

One position; GS-11/12/13

In January 2019, the NIA's Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology officially announced the establishment of the Aging Research Biobank to provide a state-of-the-art inventory system for the storage and distribution of these collections to the broader scientific community. Aging research will be expanded through the use of such collections to address new promising scientific questions targeting the development of prognostics, markers, and therapeutics for conditions related to aging and to provide a better understanding of the aging process. Much progress has been made by the Aging Research Biobank with a considerable increase in its study collections (more than 10 study collections) as well as requests for biospecimens and /or data access. This requires considerable time investment to review and approve requests as well as establishment of material transfer agreements (MTAs) that ensure access to the Biobank resources are safe, data are protected, and new research questions being addresses are meaningful and significantly expand clinical and therapeutic sciences. There is also a need to create a database of studies funded by NIA to monitor their development and value of potential biospecimen and data collection for future inclusion in the Biobank and use required by our data sharing policies. This work requires a full-time health specialist to support biobank management activities which are now the sole responsibility of Dr. Rosaly Correa-de-Araujo, who is also the Senior Scientific Advisor to the DGCG Director.

To this end, a Program Analyst will help support activities related to the NIA Aging Research Biobank by:

Providing assistance, technical direction, and oversight of the performance of contractors.
Coordinating biobank interactions with NIA-funded study investigators, review and approval of external requests for access to biobank materials.
Supporting development and monitoring of policies and guidance to adhere to NIA/NIH policies.
Supporting development and implementation of new initiatives to assess and manage costs; evaluate, enhance, and document routine biobank processes; implement new initiatives to promote utilization of biobank data and samples as well as planning for sample culling practices.
Developing a database of studies supported by NIA that collect specimens and related data to monitor relevance and potential inclusion in the biobank.

Health Specialists, Geriatrics Branch (GB) and Clinical Gerontology Branch (CGB)

One position; GS-11/12/13

GB and CGB have growing scientific portfolios and plan to hire one Health Specialist for each Branch to help meet unique branch needs and support the following activities:

Conducting literature searches, portfolio analyses, and program analyses
Assisting with PCC coding
Working with program staff to develop Funding Opportunity Announcements, new research initiatives, and exploratory meetings of scientific experts
Assisting with the oversight and support of large study/cooperative agreement monitoring board

Health Scientist Administrator, Clinical Gerontology Branch (CGB), Clinical Translational Aging Research

One position; GS-12/13/14

This position will focus on the oversight of activities related to and program development of clinical translational aging research. The incumbent will oversee and coordinate activities of the recently established Network on the development and validation of aging mechanisms based predictive markers, including further development of predictive markers of aging. The incumbent will also collaborate with other NIA Divisions to address common translational research challenges such as limited availability of human in vitro models for a variety of aging conditions and other strategies to better predict the biological and toxicological effects of new therapeutics in humans at earlier stages of the translational research process.

Health Scientist Administrator, Clinical Gerontology Branch (CGB), Juvenile Protective Factors and Resiliencies

One position; GS-12/13/14

This position will focus on the oversight of existing projects and additional program development of research on aging changes across the life span-- the application of a life course perspective for identifying risk and protective factors in early- and mid-life which influence health trajectories at subsequent stages of the human life span. The incumbent will be responsible for advancing research on juvenile protective factors (i.e., intrinsic factors during postnatal growth and development which protect from injuries and promote resiliencies but either decline or disappear with postnatal maturational transitions and/or at time of maturity to adulthood (puberty) and thereby, contribute to adverse aging changes/health outcomes across the adult years). Additionally, the incumbent will focus on current activities and development of new programmatic activities and across-Division efforts on resiliencies.