Project Mentor

Dr. Jennifer Garza
Department of Medicine, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Description

Project Description	We are seeking students interested in a summer research opportunity to join the UConn Study on Aging, Musculoskeletal Health, and Retirement (UConn-SAM) team. For their summer projects, students will measure work and out-of-work activity patterns of UConn-SAM participants with and without eldercare responsibilities. The opportunity includes field work, recruitment and interaction with study participants, and analysis of work and out-of-work activity data. Students will test the hypothesis that individuals with eldercare responsibilities will have different work and out-of-work activity patterns compared to those without eldercare responsibilities.
Project Direction	UConn-SAM is a longitudinal research study that has been running through the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UConn Health. The goal of the study is to investigate the relationship between work, health, well-being, musculoskeletal health, and retirement in a cohort of over 1000 older manufacturing workers. The project started in 2008 and is currently funded until the fall of 2021.
Mentorship and Supervision	I will be responsible for training, supervision, and mentoring of the students. At the beginning of the summer I will work with students to develop Individualized Development Plans to outline their academic goals and plans for the summer and overall. We will use this as a roadmap to ensure that the students are meeting our expectations. I will meet with students weekly to check their progress, problem solve road blocks, and plan for the upcoming week. I will organize journal clubs to expand students’ knowledge of the field of occupational health. I will also be in the office and available to help students throughout the week, as well as connect students with other members of the UConn-SAM team who can help to support their experience.
Student Qualifications	Eligible students should have interest in working with human subjects and will obtain their CITI certification at the beginning of their summer research experience. Students should have some experience working on data analysis and ideally should be able to program in Excel, Matlab, R, SPSS, SAS, STATA, or another language. Students should have their own car that they can use for field work.
Summer Schedule Options	Work will occur mainly within regular work daytime hours of Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm, with some flexibility to accommodate the students’ needs. Field work may occasionally require early morning, evening, or night-time hours to accommodate the shift worker participants in the study population.
Project Continuation	Fall 2020, Spring 2021
Academic Year Time Commitment	3-9 hours/week
Possible Thesis Project	Yes

Application

Submit an online application for this research opportunity at https://quest.uconn.edu/prog/HRP20-7. The application deadline is Monday, February 3, 2020.

This application requires a cover letter and a resume or CV.