ABOUT THE UNIT
The Genetic Counselling Unit’s overarching goal is to improve care of individuals with inherited predisposition to disease risk. Our aim is to empower these individuals to make medical and healthcare choices based on their genetic profiles.
SUMMARY
The Research Assistant will assist in implementation science research programmes aimed at improving access to lifesaving genetics services. This will include the development and testing of interventions to increase access to and uptake of genetics services in different parts of the patient’s and healthy person’s journey. In particular, the Research Assistant will be involved in projects related to understanding the uptake of risk management strategies in carriers of cancer predisposition genes (MyCarrier study), evaluating the impact of personalised genetic risk scores on genetic counselling and testing uptake (ARiCa study), evaluating and implementing a low-literacy decision aid for genetic testing (Decision Aid Study), and a study related to maintaining the sustainability of the mainstreaming model for ovarian cancer patients (Mainstreaming Sustainability Study).
RESPONSIBILTIES
a. Plan and perform study procedures (e.g study recruitment, data collection and data analysis with guidance) that are necessary to meet direct project goals.
b. Ensure that the research projects meet the defined objectives in time.
c. Assist in retrieving information necessary for reports and proposals for the donors and grant organizations.
d. Assist in ensuring the expenses for research programs are within the planned budget.
e. Evaluate indication for referral and triages cases as necessary.
f. Conduct pre-clinic intakes to obtain accurate family history/medical information and relevant documents from patients.
g. Assist in genetic test ordering administration and operations
h. Attends to inquiry (phone calls, messages or emails) that comes through the department/CRMY and works with colleagues to ensure clients and research participants are attended accordingly.
i. Maintaining patient records in hard and soft copy
j. Complying with safety, ethical and regulatory requirements.
k. Other responsibilities include:
- To represent the team and Cancer Research Malaysia when appropriate
- To undertake other administrative tasks as required
QUALIFICATIONS
- BSc in Genetics, Biomedical Sciences, Psychology, Counselling or other science subjects with interest in working with patients.
- Multilingual and able to communicate effectively in Chinese (Preferred), Malay and English to cater to the diverse linguistic needs of our clients.
- Demonstrated skill in handling data and successfully presenting the data both in spoken (conference) or written (publication) form.
- Knows when, and who, to ask about a problem, and does so.
- Able to work with minimum supervision within a team structure.
- Driven by a strong sense of making an impact, with problem solving skills, including conflict resolution skills.
- The ability to prioritise own workload and work to deadlines.
- Adopts a pro-active attitude to work.
- Assumes full responsibilities within role.
- Passion for CRMY's mission.
About the Company
Cancer Research Malaysia
We are an independent and non-profit cancer research organisation based in Malaysia. Funded by donations and research grants, we conduct research in niche cancers often found in our Asian population.
Cancer — the big ‘C’ — continues to be a stigma, only spoken about in hushed whispers; how it’s bad karma, how much it costs, and that nothing could be done.
Confronting this stigma head on, CRM has been reversing this language of cancer, transforming the big ‘C’ to a little ‘c’, and we plan to develop tools backed by good research to ensure that we can truly fight cancer on all fronts.
We believe that we will reverse the grip of cancer in our lives. We want researchers to win the war against cancer by turning it around with new ways of prevention and cure. We want to empower the public through impactful outreach programmes, with the hopes that Malaysians will respond differently to cancer by coming forward for screenings and going through with treatments.
Our driving force is held together by these goals:
- Improving the survival rates of Asian cancer patients, focusing on neglected areas of research.
- Empowering Asians to have the proper screening and treatment.
- Improving survival rates by being more accessible, focusing on providing existing cures to patients rather than sit on inaction and potentially losing lives.
- Making affordable and timely treatments by repurposing drugs, acknowledging the reality that developing new cures are costly and risky.
- Putting Malaysia in the global spotlight for cancer research by collaborating with top scientists around the world,and working to nurture the next generation of Malaysian cancer researchers.