Respiratory Therapist / Clinical Research Specialist

About LASARRUS

LASARRUS Clinic and Research Center is a Baltimore-based medical device and clinical research company developing WearME, a wearable respiratory monitoring platform for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Our work is supported by NIH funding and collaborations with leading clinical and academic partners.

We are hiring a Respiratory Therapist / Clinical Research Specialist to support current and upcoming WearME clinical studies and help launch a small COPD respiratory therapy clinic workflow. This role is ideal for a licensed Respiratory Therapist, RRT, CRT, or clinically experienced research professional who is comfortable with patient-facing work, COPD research, spirometry/PFT workflows, EHR documentation, and clinic operations.

This is a hybrid role: approximately 50% NIH WearME study execution and 50% RT clinic launch / operations support.

Position Summary

The ideal candidate is clinically strong, highly organized, comfortable working with COPD patients, and interested in helping LASARRUS build a reimbursement-ready respiratory therapy clinic workflow. The role includes participant recruitment, screening, consent support, study visits, REDCap/source documentation, WearME device workflows, EHR setup, referral/order coordination, payer/credentialing support, and clinic operations.

This position is expected to be approximately 30 hours per week initially, with potential to increase up to 40 hours/week depending on study volume, clinic launch needs, and prior approval. The role is primarily on-site Monday–Thursday for participant visits and clinic operations, with Friday generally used for virtual follow-ups, documentation, remote coordination, and team support.

Key Responsibilities

NIH WearME Clinical Study Support — approximately 50%

• Recruit, screen, consent, and schedule COPD participants for LASARRUS WearME studies.
• Support WearME-Basic and WearME-Pro study activities.
• Conduct or assist with on-site study visits, including spirometry, 6MWT, TUG, SPPB, ROM, questionnaires, and application of WearME and reference devices.
• Properly apply WearME devices and reference devices according to study SOPs.
• Monitor participants for adverse events or protocol issues and escalate appropriately.
• Enter and QC data in REDCap or other approved systems.
• Maintain source documents, calibration logs, screening logs, visit logs, device logs, and study files in GCP/IRB/FDA-compliant form.
• Coordinate with investigators, engineers, QA/RA staff, and clinical collaborators.
• Support SOP training, study workflow refinement, monitoring preparation, and study metrics reporting.
• Assist with abstracts, manuscripts, and conference materials when appropriate.

RT Clinic Launch and Operations Support — approximately 50%

• Help LASARRUS build a small COPD respiratory therapy clinic and reimbursement validation workflow.
• Support EHR selection and setup, including intake templates, RT/pulmonary rehab notes, telehealth workflows, referral/order forms, payer verification fields, and denial tracking.
• Coordinate with EHR, billing, and credentialing vendors or consultants.
• Help gather credentialing documents and maintain a credentialing tracker for LASARRUS, contract medical director, RT staff, and payer setup.
• Build and maintain a COPD clinic waitlist from LASARRUS’s existing patient pipeline.
• Obtain patient permissions/ROI, collect provider information, and support referral/order packet workflows.
• Coordinate insurance/payer verification and prior authorization workflows with LASARRUS billing/credentialing support.
• Support in-person and virtual RT clinic scheduling, reminders, no-show tracking, and documentation.
• Deliver respiratory therapy / pulmonary rehab-related services within scope of licensure and under approved clinical protocols, if appropriately licensed.
• Prepare patient-facing and provider-facing visit summaries where appropriate.
• Track weekly clinic KPIs: patients contacted, ROI forms completed, referral packets sent, orders received, visits scheduled, visits completed, claims submitted, denials, and collections.

Research vs. Clinic Separation

• Maintain clear separation between research activities and clinical care activities.
• Use separate scripts, consents, documentation, and workflows for study participation and clinic participation.
• Ensure patients understand that research participation and clinic participation are separate and voluntary.
• Ensure investigational WearME-Pro outputs are not used to make clinical decisions during the study.

Required Qualifications

• Associate degree or higher in Respiratory Therapy, Nursing, Clinical Research, Health Sciences, Public Health, Biomedical Sciences, or a related field.
• Active Maryland Respiratory Care Practitioner license strongly preferred.
• RRT strongly preferred; CRT with strong COPD/pulmonary rehab experience will be considered.
• Experience working with COPD, respiratory therapy, spirometry, pulmonary function testing, pulmonary rehab, or outpatient respiratory care.
• Experience interacting with patients in clinical or research settings.
• Strong documentation and organizational skills.
• Familiarity with HIPAA, GCP, IRB protocols, and clinical research documentation.
• Ability to work on-site at LASARRUS in Baltimore for participant/clinic visits.
• Ability to follow SOPs, study protocols, and medical director-approved clinic workflows.
• Strong communication skills and comfort working with older adults and patients with chronic respiratory disease.
• CPR/BLS certification required or willingness to obtain before patient-facing work.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Maryland RRT.
• Direct experience performing or supervising spirometry or pulmonary function testing.
• Experience with REDCap, Epic, Cerner, CharmHealth, Tebra, or similar EHR/research systems.
• Experience with Medicare/Medicaid populations.
• Experience with pulmonary rehab, respiratory education, smoking cessation support, oxygen therapy workflows, or COPD care coordination.
• Experience with clinical trial recruitment, informed consent, source documentation, data QC, or monitoring visits.
• Familiarity with payer verification, prior authorization, provider referrals, or credentialing workflows.
• BLS/ACLS preferred.
• Spanish or other language skills are a plus.

Work Schedule

This role is expected to follow the LASARRUS study/clinic rhythm:

• Expected hours: Approximately 30 hours/week initially, with potential to increase up to 40 hours/week depending on study enrollment, clinic volume, and prior approval.
• Monday–Thursday: primarily on-site in Baltimore for study and clinic activities.
• Mornings: WearME study visits and research operations.
• Afternoons: RT clinic operations, patient visits, referral workflows, and clinic documentation.
• Friday: generally virtual/remote for follow-ups, documentation, technical team coordination, study process refinement, and remote clinic support, unless an on-site visit or team need is scheduled in advance.
• Occasional Saturdays may be scheduled only if mutually agreed and clinically/research operationally necessary.

Specific schedule may vary based on study enrollment, patient visits, clinic launch status, and team needs.

Compensation and Contract Terms

• $40–$55 per hour, depending on credentials and experience.
• Initial fixed-term contract with potential extension or conversion based on performance, funding, study milestones, and clinic launch progress.
• Expected schedule is approximately 30 hours/week initially, with potential to increase up to 40 hours/week depending on study and clinic volume, funding, and prior written approval.
• Performance-based bonus may be considered after clinic launch based on completed, documented visits and quality/operations KPIs.
• Any bonus will be based on completed work and quality metrics, not referral value, payer type, or payer mix.
• Employment classification will be finalized based on role structure, schedule, legal review, and business needs.

Why Join LASARRUS?

• Help advance an NIH-funded medical device platform for COPD.
• Work directly on WearME-Basic and WearME-Pro clinical validation.
• Help build a first-of-its-kind COPD respiratory therapy reference clinic.
• Collaborate with engineers, clinicians, QA/RA experts, and clinical research partners.
• Contribute to a mission-driven company focused on improving respiratory care and reducing health disparities.
• Potential to grow into a long-term clinical operations leadership role as LASARRUS scales.

LASARRUS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage applications from qualified candidates of all backgrounds.

Pay: $40.00 - $55.00 per hour

Benefits:

• Flexible schedule

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Baltimore, MD 21230