CSPI Contract Research Opportunity - Food Additive Safety Ratings Database

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) seeks a consultant with experience/training in toxicology and scientific literature reviews to assist in assessing the safety of food additives.

Services to be performed

The consultant will assist CSPI’s Food Chemical Safety Team in assessing the safety of certain food additives for inclusion in CSPI’s online food additive database, Chemical Cuisine. The consultant will:

• Conduct reviews of the scientific literature relevant to the safety of additives to be specified by CSPI using a method developed by CSPI. This entails the evaluation of authoritative assessments (e.g., authorizations made by the US Food and Drug Administration, opinions published by the European Food Safety Authority, etc.) and completing a primary literature review.
• Summarize evidence from authoritative reviews and extract data elements from the primary literature.
• Evaluate the quality of evidence from both authoritative sources and the primary literature.
• Conduct a brief regulatory review and market scan to ascertain regulatory status, including basis of safety determination, any use specifications, and current use patterns.
• All of the above information will be collected, organized, and submitted in a prespecified format.

We are searching for a consultant with the following required qualifications:

• An advanced degree, training, and/or experience in toxicology or a related field (we will consider applicants who are currently enrolled in advanced degree programs).
• Experience in the interpretation of toxicological studies conducted in rodents or other mammalian model species as well as in standard in vitro systems.
• Experience conducting literature reviews using PubMed and/or other databases.

Contract Timeline & Pay Rate:

This is a remote, part-time independent contractor position during the period December 2024 through June 2025, or until the contract deliverables are completed. The estimated number of hours needed to complete all deliverables is 396 hours. The rate of pay is up to $150 per hour, depending on qualifications and experience.