Title: Research Assistant
Duties: The intern’s primary responsibilities will be to assist with a variety of
substance use focused research projects. Students can participate in one or
more of the following projects depending on the amount of time committed.
Research Projects
- National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS): Funded by the National Institute on
Drug Abuse (NIDA)/NIH, the NDEWS project is an innovative public health surveillance
system designed to identify new drugs and drug trends as they emerge. The project will
focus on new drugs, such as new psychoactive substances, synthetic cannabinoids, and
changes in the use of other more traditional drugs such as fentanyl and heroin. Students
may be involved with NDEWS in several ways, including assisting with news scans,
website updates, analysis of social media scans and data collection and analysis.
o Drug Outbreak Testing Service (DOTS) Pilot Study: This study aims to help
localities around the U.S. to identify the specific drugs involved in adverse drug-
related events and/or overdoses. Urine specimens will be tested for a panel of
over 150 licit and illicit drugs/metabolites, which will allow NDEWS to provide
information to the public health community about the specific drugs being used.
Students may be involved with data collection, data checking, analysis, and
report preparation as part of this study.
- Community Drug Early Warning System (CDEWS): With funding from the
Executive Office of the President, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP),
CESAR is conducting ongoing studies to assess trends in drug use in the United States
through expanded drug testing of urine specimens collected from individuals in both
criminal justice and public health settings. Students can participate in data collection,
analysis and report preparation as part of this study.
- Opioid Use Disorders Project: Funded through the MPowering the State initiative, this
collaborative project between the University of Maryland, College Park and the
University of Maryland, Baltimore seeks to combine UMCP and UMB’s expertise in
preclinical, clinical and policy areas to address the opioid epidemic in the state of
Maryland and the nation, with the goal to better understand opioid use disorder, develop
treatment strategies, and create recommendations for treatment research and education.
CESAR is currently working on several projects as part of this initiative:
o Novel therapies to reduce opioid use: This project aims to capitalize on new
findings from the field of placebo research to develop strategies to reduce opioid
use in methadone patients. As part of this clinical trial to test the efficacy of
pairing placebo dosing with the administration of methadone, CESAR will be
spearheading the effort to conduct substance use surveys and toxicological
analysis of urine specimens from study participants. Students may be involved in
data analysis and report preparation as part of this study.
o Epidemiologic studies of opioid related emergency department (ED)
admissions: This study will analyze the medical records of patients in
emergency departments to better understand patterns of opioid use by: 1)
analyzing electronic patient records for drug related admissions maintained by
five Maryland hospitals; and 2) analyzing already collected clinical information
obtained from two samples of patients for drug-related hospital admissions.
Students may be involved in data analysis and report preparation as part of this
study.
Qualifications: GPA Requirement: 3.0 minimum. No prior research experience is required. This
candidate must have strong attention to detail.
Preferred skills (not required): interest in epidemiology/public health research/substance use,
knowledge of Microsoft Excel and/or SPSS.
Hours: 12-15 hours/week minimum. Ability to commit a greater number of hours is a plus!
Preference will be given to candidates that are interested in working with CESAR for more than
one semester.
Compensation: Internship open to undergraduate and graduate students. May be used to earn
BSOS, HLTH, CRIM, or Public Policy internship credit (3-6 credits). These
credits may be used to fulfill elective and program credit requirements. We
are accepting both part-time and full-time interns. Paid opportunities may also
be available. SPSS training will be provided by CESAR as part of this
internship.
To Apply: Please submit by email a cover letter, resume, and unofficial transcript to:
Amy Billing
Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR)
University of Maryland, College Park
301-405-9796
billing@umd.edu
Please indicate the approximate number of hours per week you are interested in working. If you
are applying as part of a structured internship program on campus, please indicate this as well.
Application Deadline: Open until filled.
