Faculty Research - Instructor- Department of Surgery

About the Role

The Department of Surgery, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Trivedi Institute for Space and Global Biomedicine, and the High-Throughput Genome Center (HTGC) at the University of Pittsburgh are seeking a highly motivated Research Instructor in the appointment stream. This full-time position is at the intersection of space biomedicine, trauma research, and multi-omics technologies, with close integration into the University of Pittsburgh's High-Throughput Genome Center (HTGC) core facility.

Qualifications

The successful candidate must hold a Master’s or equivalent degree in biochemistry, analytical chemistry, biotechnology, or a related field. Candidates nearing completion of a master’s degree with strong, directly relevant research experience will also be considered. We are particularly interested in individuals who bring a combination of analytical, computational, and translational strengths, including expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• Lipidomics and/or metabolomics using LC-MS/MS and HPLC-based workflows, including method development, extraction optimization, and quantification of lipid and metabolite biomarkers in complex biological matrices such as plasma and extracellular vesicles
• Isolation, characterization, and analysis of extracellular vesicles (EVs) from plasma or other biofluids
• Proteomics workflows and mass-spectrometry-based protein identification and quantification
• NMR-based metabolomics, including spectral acquisition, processing, and open-source pipeline development (highly desirable)
• Bioinformatics and chemometric approaches for multi-omics data integration and biomarker discovery
• Interest or experience in trauma biology, radiation biology, or spaceflight and microgravity research

Excellent scientific writing and communication skills, with a track record of peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, are required. The ideal candidate thrives at the interface of analytical chemistry and translational biomedicine and is excited about applying lipidomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and NMR expertise to questions spanning from low-Earth orbit to trauma and human disease.

Responsibilities

The Research Instructor will contribute to a broad portfolio of federally funded and industry-supported research programs, including:

• Space radiation and trauma lipidomics, characterizing how space radiation and traumatic injury alter the lipid composition of plasma and extracellular vesicles, including comparative analyses with biological samples from commercial spaceflight missions such as SpaceX's Inspiration4
• Multi-omic biomarker discovery, identifying lipid, protein, and metabolite biomarkers associated with mitochondrial dysfunction, immune dysregulation, and tissue injury across spaceflight, trauma, and post-viral disease models
• NMR metabolomics pipeline development, building and refining open-source NMR metabolomics workflows for spaceflight-relevant and trauma datasets
• Core facility integration, supporting sample processing, LC-MS/MS and NMR data acquisition, and analytical pipeline development through the HTGC, in collaboration with core staff and users across the university

The Research Instructor will be embedded within a collaborative environment with strong ties to NASA, ESA, DoD, NIH, and global biomedical research networks. Responsibilities include supporting analytical research projects, contributing to grant development and manuscript preparation, mentoring students and trainees, and helping maintain and advance shared LC-MS/MS and NMR instrumentation and protocols.

Additional Information

The initial appointment is for one year, with the strong expectation of renewal for one to two additional years based on performance and funding availability. To be considered, submit a current curriculum vitae through the University of Pittsburgh Talent Center and search for Requisition #: 26005925. The University of Pittsburgh is an Equal Opportunity Employer.