Research Asst 2, Peds Infectious Disease

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of diverse individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health recognizes that diversity is essential for excellence and innovation. We are committed to an inclusive environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your diversity of culture, thinking, learning, and leading is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

Pediatric Infectious Disease

Job Summary:

JOB SUMMARY

This position will play a key role in contributing to research in the Vanderbilt Infection Surveillance & Prevention Research (VISPR) Program which concentrates on the etiology, epidemiology, prevention, and pathobiology of infectious diseases. Our mission is to define the burden of acute respiratory and diarrheal illnesses in young children both locally and internationally, and developing strategies to mitigate them, such as through vaccines, particularly the optimization of influenza vaccine strategies in specialized populations (e.g., immunocompromised hosts).

This position will, under moderate supervision, set up, conduct experiments, and continue research projects following protocols including the appropriate recording of data and reporting of standard or variant results. Assist in other laboratory and research functions. The Research Assistant will interact with faculty, staff, and students within the laboratory as well as communicating and collaborating with clinical and administrative team members in VISPR.

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KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Conducts Wet Lab Experiments

Preparation and Coordination of Samples in and out of lab

• Creating and reviewing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Working with supervisor to maintain supplies and working equipment.
   

Processing samples from many different studies

• Stool, Blood, Nasal swab, Saliva preparation for analysis
• Assist in maintaining lab compliance with biological and chemical safety protocols
• Record data, perform data analysis and create graphs/reports

Collaboration

• Training and onboarding new members on lab processing techniques
• Effectively communicate experimental results to supervisor and/or laboratory group meetings
• Work effectively with others to accomplish goals and to find solutions to problems

Maintaining Lab Records

• Maintain inventories
• Freezer log mapping and coordination
• Organization of samples
• Sorting of samples
• Reconciliation of sample collection
• Follow University safety protocols (may include use of combustibles, radioactivity, toxic material, and/or carcinogens)

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES

Our Academic Enterprise is one of the nation’s longest serving and most prestigious academic medical centers. Through its historic bond with Vanderbilt University and integral role in the School of Medicine, Vanderbilt Health cultivates distinguished research and educational programs to advance a clinical enterprise that provides compassionate and personalized care and support for millions of patients and family members each year.

World-leading academic departments and comprehensive centers of excellence pursue scientific discoveries and transformational educational and clinical advances across the entire spectrum of health and disease.

Aligning with Vanderbilt Health’s Strategic Directions, the Office of Research provides shared research resources, administrative expertise and professional guidance to enable the trans-disciplinary environment and highly collaborative culture that advances discovery and training for all the research faculty, trainees, students and staff. 

Core Accountabilities:

Organizational Impact: Executes job respon