Senior Research Technician

Department
 

BSD MED - Gastroenterology

About the Department
 

The Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology at The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the best specialty nationally by U.S News and World Report. With nearly 30 specialists on staff, our program plays a leading role in the understanding of digestive diseases and in developing innovative and successful treatments for patients. Since forming the nation’s first full-time department of gastroenterology in 1927, our physicians have continually improved treatments for digestive tract and related disorders by combining medical research, education, and patient care at the highest level.

Job Summary
 

The Section of Gastroenterology is looking for a Senior Research Technician with a strong background in microbiology to join our interdisciplinary team to design and perform research experiments. The Cheng lab is seeking a highly motivated laboratory technician to build gut microbial communities from scratch. Our laboratory’s ultimate goal is to understand and unlock the tremendous promise of the microbiome for treatment of human disease. You will be responsible for design and creation of complex microbial communities for experimentation and therapy. Your primary duties will be to design, execute, and optimize microbial community construction pipelines, to create and maintain anaerobic bacterial isolate stocks, with opportunities to implement new technologies for process optimization. You will also assist with metagenomic sequencing and gnotobiotic animal experiments. Additional duties include laboratory management, training technicians, and maintaining cross-team collaborations. Our ideal candidate should be a ‘self-starter,’ have exceptional organizational skills, and stay updated on recent advances in microbiota research.

Responsibilities

• Culture and cryopreserve fastidious anaerobic microbes and optimize pipelines for culture and preservation.

• Coordinate with postdoctoral scholars and graduate students to design and assemble custom synthetic microbial communities.

• Prepare DNA libraries for metagenomic sequencing and coordinate downstream bioinformatic processing.

• Assist with animal experimentation, including gnotobiotic and specific pathogen free mouse lines.

• Record findings/results.

• Maintain laboratory notebook.

• Coordinate lab maintenance, ordering of supplies, stocking shelves, clean up.

• Perform basic lab techniques (making of bacterial growth medias, buffers, pipetting, immunoblots, PCR, microscopy), performing experiments for specific projects.

• Applies research principles and relevant subject matter knowledge relevant to administer a research project. With a moderate level of direction, manages lab and/or research-related duties and tasks. Helps develop, design and conduct research projects according to plan.

• Takes responsibility for the following laboratory duties: recognizing abnormal results and varying conditions or procedures to correct problems; setting up and performing experiments. Analyze the meaning, significance, causes, and effects of the subject.

• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications
 

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

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Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

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Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Advanced degree in Microbiology or related field.

Experience:

• Experience with DNA extraction and library preparation for 16S sequencing and next generation Illumina-based sequencing.

Preferred Competencies

• Knowledge in relevant scientific field.

• Knowledge in Microbiology.

• Knowledge of research techniques (growing microbial cultures, animal experimentation, DNA/RNA/protein extractions, PCR, western blotting, microscopy, use of standard lab equipment including pH meter, scales, cell culture hoods and practices).

• Analytical skills.

• Problem-solving skills.

• Attention to detail.

• Organizational skills.

• Verbal and written communication skills.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

• Adaptability and willingness to learn new skills and take on new responsibilities.

• Effective time-management skills.

Application Documents

• Resume (required)

• Cover Letter (required)

When applying