Graduate Research Assistant - Summer Intern

The Institute for Behavioral Health seeks a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Summer Intern to provide support for the Exploring community Knowledge -Ongoing (ECKS-O) study.

This is a part time summer internship, 20 hours per week from June - August 2026.

The pay rate is $25/hour.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The Graduate Research Assistant Summer Intern will work as part of a team to:

• Working with Project Managers and Principal Investigator to support research on law and policy related to drug use and harm reduction
• Conduct statutory and regulatory analysis of Massachusetts laws governing harm reduction infrastructure, including drug paraphernalia statutes, syringe service program (SSP) authorizations, and the legal status of drug-checking technologies (e.g., fentanyl or xylazine test strips, drug checking equipment) in treatment and healthcare settings
• Perform multi-state legal comparisons analyzing how other states regulate novel public health interventions for harm reduction to provide model policy options for Massachusetts
• Prepare policy memos, written materials and publication.
• Creation/preparation of presentations, documentation, and other communication materials to delivery information to communities, the department of public health, the team, and more
• Analyze federal and state data privacy laws with respect to harm reduction data.
• Contribute to legal and policy analysis, statistical analysis (e.g. bivariate analysis) and/or qualitative data coding and analysis with ECKS-O data. Experience with SPSS, R or Stata is preferred.
• Attend weekly project meetings to record action steps, as requested.

Skills and Experience Requirements:

The candidate must have strong organizational and time-management skills, must be detailed oriented and focused.

Must have ability to treat people who use drugs and people who are in recovery with dignity, respect, and kindness.

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal are necessary and strong legal research skills (e.g., experience with Westlaw/LexisNexis) preferred.

Ability to maintain strict confidentiality and navigate complex ethical boundaries involving illicit activities.

Prior experience with research, community service with vulnerable populations, and/or with people who use drugs is preferred.

Access to transportation is required.

Training and mentoring available for candidate.