Fall Internship Opportunities at CESAR

Research Internship Announcement (for credit)
Position: Undergraduate/Graduate Internship Opportunity –Fall 2020
Title: Research Assistant
Duties: The intern’s primary responsibilities will be to assist with a variety of

substance use focused research projects.

Research Projects
 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 analyzing
electronic patient records for drug related admissions maintained by seven
Maryland hospitals. 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: 10 hours/week minimum. Ability to commit a greater number of hours is a plus!
Compensation: Internship open to undergraduate and graduate students. May be used to earn
BSOS, HLTH, or CRIM internship credit (3-6 credits). These credits may be
used to fulfill elective and program credit requirements. Both part-time and
full-time interns will be considered.

To Apply: Please submit by email a cover letter, resume, unofficial transcript, and
writing sample (i.e. class paper) to: Amy Billing, Center for Substance Abuse
Research (CESAR), University of Maryland, College Park, 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.