Research Specialist II - Touil Lab - Department of Neurology

About the role

The Research Specialist II applies a solid foundation in research and experience with techniques associated with a specific area of research. Incumbent will be capable of exercising independent judgment while leading and coordinating established research programs, project planning, enrollment of patients, experimental protocols and procedures, database development and analysis including evaluating and interpreting results.

Responsibilities

• Takes initiative and acts as project lead under close direction of Principal Investigator.
• Participates in all aspects of clinical development and study management (protocol design, enrollment of patients, development and implementation of protocols, and if applicable, submission of IRB applications and approvals).
• Fulfills roles in preparing publications and presentations, writing and preparing grant proposals and coordinating application and submission process.
• Operates lab computers for data entry and maintains accurate data records for assigned research projects.
• Uses various software applications, such as spreadsheets, electronic mail, World Wide Web, statistical packages, and graphics packages to assemble, manipulate and/or format data and/or test reports.
• Operates appropriate laboratory equipment. Monitors inventory levels, orders materials and supplies.
• Acts as a scientific expert for the affiliated pre-clinical research laboratory (e.g., assisted with experimental designs, data analysis, interpretation of scientific literature).
• Identifies and resolves increasingly complicated problems involved in research assays.
• Establishes and maintains relationships with clinical investigators and manages internal and external collaborative research projects.
• Exercises independent scientific judgment while leading and coordinating the planning of current and future experiments and evaluating and interpreting results.
• Functions as a bridge between research and clinical programs which may have local and national contributors and investigators relying on information provided.
• Maintains awareness and timely execution of progress reports required by sponsors, safety boards, and/or supervising teams when applicable.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, or related field is required.
• Masters of Science, or Masters in Neuroscience, or Masters in Immunology, or Biomedical sciences and related fields is preferred.
• 5 years of experience in area of research specialty.
• Demonstrated understanding of general research objectives.
• Experience handling human bio-specimens, including blood, serum, plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), among others.
• Experience with multi-omics approaches, including proteomics, transcriptomics, and functional immunology, is preferred.
• Familiarity with database management and basic data analysis is desirable.
• Strong wet-lab skills are required, with experience in neuroscience, neuro-immunology, or related biomedical fields considered an asset.
• Familiarity with computational environments including single cell RNA-Seq, Spectral flow cytometry, REDCap, SPSS and excel is preferred.