Research Technician

About the Role

The faculty in MBM are united by a common interest in the biology of microbes (bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites) and the effects of microbes on human and animal hosts. The microbial pathogens program studies microorganisms that cause infectious diseases, with emphasis on rigorous analysis of these pathogens and the immune responses that restrict them. Program investigators direct detailed studies of pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and eukaryotic parasites. Research topics include structural analysis of virus entry, viral evolution, viral oncogenes, intracellular bacterial pathogens, microorganisms that cause diarrhea and pneumonia, intracellular signaling, pathogen adhesion, genetic determinants involved in susceptibility to infection, vaccine development, and identification of novel antimicrobial agents.

Responsibilities

• Conduct a variety of experiments using mouse infection models with gram-negative bacterial pathogens and in vitro infection models to study the efficacy of therapeutics.
• Perform tasks such as culturing bacterial cells, making mesoscale and high-throughput measurements of treatment responses, and synthesizing information from published literature for quantitative analysis.
• Use Python or Matlab programming for developing machine learning algorithms.
• Record test results and analyze data using statistics, primarily in an ABSL-2 Animal Facility and biosafety cabinets.
• Work with mice, including experimentation with pathogenic bacterium multi-drug resistant strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae (e.g., pipetting and plating).
• Conduct routine experiments, including designing protocols, performing mouse infections, dissections, bacterial growth, drug treatment response profiling, mesoscale analysis, and molecular biology procedures.
• Keep accurate records of experiments and results, perform data interpretation and summarization, including writing custom code and applying analysis algorithms.
• Communicate findings to the Principal Investigator (PI) and project team, interact scientifically with lab mates, and assist in writing materials for publication and presentation.
• Assist with laboratory operations, including inventory management, lab organization, coordinating equipment repair, and supporting other lab members.

Requirements

• BS degree in science or engineering with familiarity and some experience in mouse manipulation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with mouse manipulations and culturing bacterial cells.
• Proficiency in making mesoscale and high-throughput measurements.
• Ability to record test results and analyze data using statistics.
• Skills in Python or Matlab for machine learning applications.
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and communication abilities for team-based projects.
• Knowledge of MS Office products, statistical/quantitative analysis, and computation.
• Previous experience working with mice is highly desired.

Pay

Salary range: Minimum $20.90, Midpoint $24.90, Maximum $28.90. Pay is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; new hires can generally expect compensation between the minimum and midpoint of the range.