High Demand Hidden Careers in Research Administration Takes the Stage at Houston Methodist

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Every great clinical and translational researcher has behind the scenes administrators ensuring that the research is performed efficiently, ethically, safely, legally, and with financial sustainability. Houston Methodist calls these back-office heroes our High Demand Hidden Careers (HDHC) research administrators. Research administrators range from generalists in research administration to specialists in low candidate pools such as research regulatory affairs and clinical trials budget analysis. The supply of such candidates, in all areas of research administration, nosed-dived during the pandemic and still has not recovered for many niche specialties. In 2024, Houston Methodist turned to its partners to brainstorm how to create a regional approach to recover and fortify this workforce against economic downturns in the future. The seeds of the program began at a roundtable of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership (BAHEP) and the Greater Gulf Coast Translational Science Alliance (GGCTSA) that included Houston Methodist, The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Texas Southern University (TSU), and the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). The workforce development needs of the medical and biomedical regional community became a hot topic. Through later conversations, Rebecca Hall, PhD, Vice President at Houston Methodist and Kim Morris, Director of BayTech , the entire region would benefit if the link between the unemployed and underemployed regional workforce and open positions in research administration could be forged. The result of this partnership is a new regional High Demand Hidden Careers Internship with 30 interns for the 2024-2025 program year. The program, organized by BayTech and the GGCTSA partners, also includes The University of Texas Health-Houston, Rice University, and the University of Houston (UH).

Houston Methodist’s commitment to innovation and excellence makes it the perfect place for me to grow professionally.

Zehra Celik

High Demand Hidden Careers Intern

The program uses a ‘chained alliance’ approach where interns flow from the workforce development partners of BayTech, BAHEP, TSU, and UHCL into either general research administration programs or specialty research administration programs at Houston Methodist, UTMB, Rice, UH, or UTHealth-Houston. Funded in part by a Texas Talent Connection grant to BayTech, the program is also funded through the Wagner-Peyser 7(b) program and by each partner institution. Houston Methodist’s three-month competitive HDHC program kicked off in October with a cohort of four diverse interns who will be introduced to the fundamentals of research administration and specialized work experience in areas like regulatory affairs, research integrity, and research compliance under the guidance of dedicated mentors. “The program offers our interns the unique opportunity to experience each piece of the research administration process and more importantly, how each piece carefully fits together resulting in a comprehensive, streamlined program with checks and balances,” explained internship mentor Kirstin H. Madigan, MPH, Director of Research Integrity and Compliance. Yet, the internship program is based on the innovation concept of “learn fast,” allowing interns to “iterate in their career development quickly toward the right match for them,” explained Hall, site-PI for the HDHC grant at Houston Methodist. In a three month deep-dive tour in the field, they receive a realistic inside perspective on all the facets of research administration. “Armed with that knowledge, they can feel confident in committing to a longer internship or applying for jobs in their area of interest within an academic medical center, university or in industry,” added Hall. As the interns develop their skills through hands-on experience in each area of research administration, the mentors look forward to seeing the program grow. “I would love to see this program continue to open others’ eyes to these ‘hidden careers’ and help them discover where they best fit within a research administration program,” Madigan said.

Meet the Interns

Zehra Celik has more than a decade of experience collaborating with principal investigators and regulatory agencies to ensure compliance and efficient clinical trial execution. She is passionate about advancing clinical research through both operational excellence and oversight, which attracted her to research administration. She hopes to expand her skills in grant management, compliance and financial oversight. “I can make a meaningful impact on the success of research organizations by ensuring research is conducted ethically and efficiently,” she said. “Houston Methodist’s commitment to innovation and excellence makes it the perfect place for me to grow professionally.”

Rajalaxmi “Raji” Natarajan previously worked as science writer developing scientific manuscripts, grants and proposals and leading several high-level strategic communications projects with a PhD in cell biology and postdoctoral training in genetics and neuroscience. “This internship offers an opportunity to leverage my scientific background and science communication expertise to help advance life-changing research,” she said.

Rebecca Jones’ 18-plus years of working in health and fitness and a graduate certificate in health care administration, she understands the important role of research in health care advancement. She has an interest in collecting, analyzing and applying data findings to contribute to larger projects.  “Initially, I was curious about what research administration entailed because I had not heard about it as a career possibility,” she explained. “My hope is to land a full-time position in research once I complete the internship.”

Chinenye Nwokenaka recently graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. Her lab experience has helped her gain valuable insight into research. This experience, combined with her passion for health care, makes research administration a fitting career.  “I hope to grow in my knowledge of research administration and develop the needed leadership skills so that I can effectively contribute to this field.”