Junior Specialist – Costello lab

Under direct supervision, perform cell and molecular analysis on glioma cells and patient-derived tissues, reporting to Dr. Costello and the lab manager.

Responsibilities

• Report progress and data directly to Dr. Costello and Dr. Okada every two weeks and present at lab meeting to report research findings and difficulties.
• Perform tumor cell assays, including human cell culturing, passaging, differentiation, cell counting, centrifugation, transferring liquids, and pipetting molecular reagents.
• Conduct molecular biology tasks such as RNA isolation, reverse transcription, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, protein purification, and immunoblotting.
• Perform specialized immunology assays, including in vitro T-cell sensitization and co-culture cytotoxicity assays to validate anti-tumor activity.
• Use specialized machines to read raw data such as conductivity or cell number, keep records of data, and interpret them using designated software.
• Construct 3D brain tumor models using Slicer to visualize brain, tumor, and spatial biopsies.
• Implement custom R-based pipelines to map spatial biopsies to immune scores or gene expression.
• Maintain records of lab reagents and equipment inventory; assign orders to the lab manager on BearBuy when there is a shortage.

Requirements

• Baccalaureate degree in Neuroscience or Molecular and Cellular Biology.
• Proficiency in the computer language R and hands-on familiarity with Slicer 3D.
• Experience navigating high-performance compute clusters.
• Knowledge of and hands-on experience with basic cell culture and standard molecular biology techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to accurately document data in a laboratory notebook, multitask, and execute assays efficiently.
• Ability to meet tight deadlines and attention to detail.

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive prior undergraduate laboratory research experience specifically within a neuro-oncology or neurological surgery laboratory setting.
• Prior specialized training or hands-on experience with live cell monitoring, molecular assays, and immunology assays.
• Experience with computational analysis of qPCR, xCelligence, and BCA data, data interpretation, and plotting in R.
• Proven track record of research productivity and high-quality data generation, including co-authorship on peer-reviewed publication(s).

Pay

A reasonable estimate for this position is $57,000 – $60,700.