Assistant Scientist – NLP, University of Florida

Responsibilities:

Research Design and Implementation

• Designing Research Studies: Develop detailed research protocols and experimental designs related to natural language processing, machine learning, large language models, and multi-modal vision-language models. Ensure that methodologies are scientifically rigorous and appropriate for the research questions and include detailed analytic & results dissemination plans.
• Conducting Research: Carry out protocols, experiments, surveys, and assessments according to the designed protocols. This includes IRB documents, data extraction, recruiting participants, conducting assessments, staff training, and leading the team to deliver the research goals.
• Data Management: Support the development and maintenance of databases for research data and/or the development and integration of data collection tools. Ensure data is stored securely and is accessible for analysis.
• Data Collection and Analysis: Oversee the collection of research data, ensuring accuracy and reliability. Use statistical and data analysis software to perform complex analyses. Appropriately apply quantitative and qualitative methods to interpret data trends, correlations, and patterns. Produce actionable insights, draw meaningful conclusions, and develop recommendations based on data analysis.
• Reporting Results: Prepare visualizations, summary reports, journal publications, and presentations to communicate findings effectively. Share results with the research team and external stakeholders to advance the field.
• Conducting Literature Reviews: Regularly review current literature related to aging, cognitive health, and wellness. Summarize and synthesize findings to inform ongoing and future research projects.
• Integrating New Knowledge: Apply insights from recent research to refine hypotheses, adjust methodologies, and enhance the relevance of research projects. Stay informed about emerging trends and technological advancements.

Outreach and Networking

• Community Engagement: Participate in the development and implementation of community outreach activities to promote research and foster public understanding of aging and wellness topics.
• Professional Networking & Stakeholder Engagement: Help organize and/or attend professional meetings, networking, and stakeholder events to build relationships with research stakeholders, including academic, industry, clinical, and community partners, to facilitate research and translate/integrate research into real-world settings.
• Team Collaboration: Work collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams, including other researchers, clinicians, and specialists. Participate in regular team meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and strategies.
• Scientific Communication: Prepare and deliver presentations of research findings at conferences, workshops, and meetings. Contribute to writing and revising peer-reviewed publications and grant proposals.
• Provide service to the university and profession: participate in department, university, and professional organizations at the local and national levels.

Grant Writing and Funding

• Proposal Development: Assist in drafting grant proposals, including writing sections related to research aims, methodology, and expected outcomes. Collaborate with team members to develop comprehensive and competitive proposals for a wide variety of funders, including government, industry, and non-profit groups.
• Funding Acquisition: Help identify potential funding sources and opportunities. Contribute to the development of project budgets and funding requests.

Training and Supervision

• Mentoring: Provide guidance and support to junior researchers, students, interns, or lab assistants. Assist with training new team members and learners in areas of expertise and/or on research protocols and techniques.
• Supervision: Oversee day-to-day activities of support staff or students involved in research projects, ensuring tasks are completed effectively.

Ethical and Regulatory Compliance

• Compliance Monitoring: Participate in developing and executing compliance monitoring plans.  Provide oversight to ensure that all research activities adhere to institutional, ethical, and regulatory guidelines. Obtain necessary approvals from ethics review boards and regulatory bodies.
• Participant Confidentiality: Maintain confidentiality and privacy of research participants. Follow protocols for data security and ethical handling of sensitive information.

Requirements & Skills:

• Specific requirements for the positions include: (1) an earned doctorate in a computer science, biomedical informatics and/or other related field,  and (2) a minimum of 3 years of research experience specifically focused in an area related to natural language processing, machine learning, large language models, multi-modal vision-language models, and their applications in health outcomes.
• Experience with developing natural language processing models, especially large language models, and multi-modal vision-language models in the healthcare context.
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills, ability, and experience authoring scientific journal publications and/or technical reports on high-impact biomedical informatics journals and conference proceedings.
• Expertise in deep learning software packages (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow).
• Interest, ability, and experience in the design and execution of collaborative multi-disciplinary research.
• Capacity to contribute to the design of research projects and the writing of research proposals.
• Interest in and ability to translate research findings into practice, using data collected and analyzed to inform the development of health innovations, programs, and/or policies.
• Capacity to successfully interact with a variety of project stakeholders, including community leaders, study sponsors, other scientists, health care providers, policy makers, and community members.
• Demonstrated talent for collaboration and team building and ability to build and maintain effective, trusting working relationships that reflect kindness, mutual respect, and honesty when working with varied perspectives among university students, staff, and internal and external partners.
• Ability to cope with change, to shift gears comfortably, and to handle risk and uncertainty.
• Strong program development and evaluation skills required for outcomes and/or program evaluation tracking, outcome assessment, quality assurance, and service utilization review.
• Understanding of the principles of human research protection standards, including Institutional Review Board protocols and procedures
• Up-to-date knowledge of scientific and regulatory requirements for human subject research.
• Capacity to successfully manage diverse research projects and demonstrated leadership skills in guiding individuals and groups through research, assessment, and strategic planning processes.
• A strong background with monitoring the progress of research activities, and the capacity to develop and maintain records of research activities, prepare periodic and ad hoc reports, as required by investigators, administrators, funding agencies, and/or regulatory bodies.
• Ability to implement quality control processes throughout research activities.
• Effective communication, writing, critical thinking, and organizational skills are required to develop and maintain policies, procedures, and clinical delivery systems for the agency and divisional/university reports.