Research Associate (Limited Term)

at  University of Toronto

Date Posted: 11/04/2024
Req ID:40511
Faculty/Division: Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Department: Division of Anatomy
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Donnelly Centre in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto invites applications for the position of Research Associate (Limited Term) to support designing and performing research towards developing gene therapy for neural regenerative medicine applications. The candidate will work in the Morshead Lab (Division of Anatomy) to use and develop viral based tools to establish novel gene delivery and cellular reprogramming strategies. This project involves conceiving and performing original research towards developing novel gene therapy tools. The candidate will be responsible for carrying out independent research consistent with the goals of the program and for providing day-to-day direction to a team of researchers, including students and technicians. The candidate will liaise with collaborators and partners and assist in the compilation, analysis and reporting of research findings to researchers within and outside of the program. The incumbent will be performing experiments requiring extensive experience in viral based gene therapy including vector design, preclinical models of neurotrauma, including stroke, neural stem cell biology, tissue culture, single cell RNA sequencing, biochemistry, tissue culture, neuroscience, as evident by research experience, patents, and publications.

QUALIFICATIONS:

Ph.D. in Life Sciences with a minimum of 5-6 years postdoctoral experience. Experience in vector design, small animal surgery, stem cell biology, tissue culture, histology and neuroscience is expected. The incumbent will be required to present his/her work to the Principal Investigator and other members of the research team and have experience in preparing manuscripts for submission to peer-review publications/journals. The incumbent must demonstrate the ability to work independently and direct projects and have a publication record in the field of gene and cell therapy. The candidate will be responsible for leading a team of 3-4 people and should have previous supervisory experience. This project will require experience in interdisciplinary methodologies including molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, viral technologies, small animal surgery and neurosciences. The project will also require experience with building and supervising a small team towards further developing viral based tools and technologies for cellular reprogramming for neural repair.

• Using and developing viral based tools and technologies for cellular reprogramming for neural repair
• Designing, planning and executing research projects.
• Working with multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional teams.
• Co-ordinating with other project leaders, PIs and collaborators.
• Conducting data analysis and reporting.
• Ensuring project goals are met within the context of the larger program.
• Designing, planning, analyzing and executing experiments relevant to the project.
• Preparing manuscripts for submission to peer-review publications/journals.
• Presenting findings at local, national and international conferences.
  Beyond these responsibilities, the individual is expected to participate in the preparation of grant applications and research supervision of two or more students or other trainees. Accordingly, the successful candidate will have demonstrated success in competitive fellowship applications and contributions to funded grants. At all times, the individual is expected to support the overall research and teaching missions of the host lab. The candidate will be expected to perform research with a high degree of independence and will design, direct, execute, analyze and present in written and oral forms novel investigative studies that build on and/or take advantage of the resources and expertise within the host lab as well as candidate’s academic expertise. As such, the successful candidate will have delivered talks at major international conferences and have first-author publications in top-tier journals.