The Almarza Laboratory is housed in the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and is a member of the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering. The laboratory focuses on temporomandibular joint (TMJ) bioengineering, with active programs in tissue engineering, biomechanics, and the characterization of sensory neurons that innervate the joint. The overarching goal is to understand the biological and mechanical basis of TMJ disorders and to translate that knowledge into better diagnostics and treatments.
Dr. Almarza directs the CREATE Center (U54 DE035413), a five-site, NIH HEAL Initiative-funded research consortium on temporomandibular disorders (TMD) that includes the University of Pittsburgh, University of Florida, University at Buffalo, Texas A&M, and UT Health Houston. He also chairs the TMD IMPACT Steering Committee, which unites CREATE with the 360° CHAT-TMD and BETTER-TMD centers, and serves as Multiple PI on the RE-JOIN Consortium award (UC2 AR082196), which studies innervation of the knee and TMJ.
Performs administrative assistant support work of moderate complexity.
This role's primary responsibilities include maintaining the PI's calendar and scheduling internal and external meetings across institutions and time zones, as well as coordinating recurring consortium meetings such as the Steering Committee, Working Groups, Executive Committee, and Core team meetings. The role involves preparing and sending agendas, Teams links, and meeting reminders, and recording, drafting, and distributing accurate meeting minutes with action items, supported by AI generated summaries. It also includes supporting the PI's travel arrangements for conferences, NIH site visits, and consortium retreats, and maintaining shared drives (Teams, SharePoint, Drive) with proper version control and permissions. Additional duties include assisting with the preparation of figures, charts, and tables (non-scientific formatting only), scheduling and coordinating consortium retreats, workshops, and annual meetings, and helping manage outreach and education core activities such as seminars, training events, and TMJ workshops. The role also covers tracking sample shipments, data uploads, imaging progress, and biospecimen inventory; managing attendee lists, registration, room reservations, catering, and travel reimbursements; coordinating submissions for abstract deadlines, society leadership materials, and session planning; tracking the PI's service commitments and external obligations; supporting interactions with patient advocacy groups and community partners; and updating and maintaining the PI's CV.
In coordination with the Program Manager, this role maintains up to date databases of publications, presentations, and consortium outputs for annual reporting, and assists with preparing NIH Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs). It also involves maintaining regulatory binders and ensuring staff training compliance (CITI, IACUC, HIPAA, OSHA), overseeing data sharing agreements, DUAs, MTAs, BAAs, and confidentiality agreements, and maintaining contact lists for all sites, including PIs, coordinators, trainees, and administrators. The role serves as the first point of contact for collaborative inquiries from NIH program officials, external partners, and industry collaborators, and coordinates newsletter creation and distribution as well as maintenance of the consortium website, including content updates, announcements, and events. It further includes helping the PI prepare for NIH check ins, internal reviews, and consortium wide evaluations; formatting and preparing manuscripts, presentations, biosketches, letters of support, and reports; organizing consortium symposia, workshops (such as TMJ workshops at ORS), and seminars; and assisting in the preparation of communication materials for USASP, ORS, BMES, AADOCR, ITIRM, and similar organizations.
Light - Little physical effort required. Duties are primarily sedentary. May be required to move objects up to 20 pounds occasionally.
The University of Pittsburgh is an equal opportunity employer / disability / veteran.
Job Details
- Assignment Category: Full-time regular
- Job Classification: Staff.Administrative Assistant II
- Job Family: Administrative Support
- Job Sub-Family: Clerical
- Campus: Pittsburgh
- Minimum Education Level Required: Associate's Degree
- Minimum Years of Experience Required: 3
- Substitution in lieu of education or experience: Combination of education and relevant experience will be considered in lieu of education and/ or experience requirement.
- Additional details about Required Licensure/Certification: N/A
- Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm
- Work Arrangement: On-Campus: Teams that work on campus, in an office, or in a lab.
- Hiring Range: TBD Based Upon Qualifications
- Relocation Offered: No
- Visa Sponsorship Provided: No
- Background Check: For position finalists, employment with the University will require successful completion of a background check
- Child Protection Clearances: Not Applicable
- Required Documents: Resume
- Optional Documents: Cover Letter