Research Assistant II - Neuroscience/Genetics

at  Baylor College of Medicine

SUMMARY

We are seeking a dedicated research assistant to help us tackle incurable childhood neurological diseases through basic and translational neurogenetics research. Our NIH-funded team at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute affiliated with BCM and Texas Children’s Hospital (BCM) deciphers the cause of childhood neurologic disorders (such as epilepsy, autism, ADHD, and cognitive impairments), develops new ways to study it at the bench, and discovers new treatments that may one day improve the quality of life for people with genetic neurologic disorders. The research assistant will be working amongst other research professionals in a open office environment adjacent to the dedicated lab.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Education Required: Bachelor’s degree in a Basic Science or a related field.
• Experience Required: Three years of relevant experience.
• Certification/Licenses/Registration: None Required.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in basic science or a related field.
• At least three years of full-time work experience in a basic science research laboratory.
• Direct experience in laboratory and animal research. Comfortable working with live mice and performing tissue collections.
• Has the ability to lift 25 pounds.
• Walks up to 0.5 - 1.5 miles to on-site campus locations, that includes but not limited to Baylor College of Medicine facilities, Texas Children’s Hospital complex, and other Texas Medical Center buildings.
• Experience with some but not all molecular biology or cell culture techniques required.
• Ability to manage and maintain animal colonies according to institutional protocols and project needs.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proficient in Excel spreadsheets, Word processing, PowerPoint, and basic statistical analyses.
• Bilingual (Spanish)
  Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.
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• Animal husbandry: maintain transgenic fruit fly and mouse colonies, perform PCR-based genotyping assays, monitor breeding activities, and keep detailed records in the lab’s database.
• Perform tissue collection in mice to examine brain anatomy and monitor developmental alterations.
• Collect tissues for basic histology on fixed tissues, including tissue sectioning, staining, and microscopy imaging.
• Perform a broad range of cellular, molecular biology and biochemistry assays, including DNA-, RNA-, and protein extraction from cells and tissues, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, Western blots, real time PCR, ELISA, molecular cloning with bacteria, etc.
• Maintain careful and detailed documentation of experiments, collected data, records review and data entry, and data analysis in lab notebooks and databases.
• Attend and present at group and individual meetings. Analyze data, troubleshoot problems, and generate data reports to determine feasibility.
• Oversee the purchase, setting up, maintenance of lab equipment and environment, including monitoring inventory of supplies, managing the safety in the lab, managing maintenance contracts, and contacting service personnel for repairs.
• Train and supervise less experienced research staff.
• Assist Faculty with planning projects for the laboratory.
• Moves and lifts laboratory supplies, equipment, and animal research related storage.