Job Profiles

Clinical Research Associate

The overseer of clinical trials.

Education: Bachelor’s degree; additional certifications and/or master’s degree provide additional career advancement opportunities

A clinical research associate helps ensure proper study conduct and timely generation, review, and retrieval of quality data. Clinical research associates oversee each stage of a clinical trial; from site selection to monitoring subject safety and site conduct to ensuring studies run according to the protocol. Clinical research associates also assist with site close out at the end of a study, verifying all data has been collected and all documentation is properly filed and retained.

Typically employed by contract research organizations (CROs), they liaise during all steps of the trial, communicating between the clinical trial sponsor, the site, and regulatory agencies.

Main responsibilities include:

• Review trial methodologies and perform risk assessments
• Ensure compliance with study protocol and training in all aspects of clinical research
• Write site visit reports to document observations and findings