UNIV - Research Specialist I - Department of Neurosciences

Job Description Summary

The Rinker Lab at the Medical University of South Carolina is seeking a Research Specialist 1 to join our lab in the Department of Neuroscience. This position is ideal for individuals looking to gain more hands-on laboratory experience in a systems neuroscience lab. The lab focuses on understanding mechanisms that underly stress and alcohol interactions and the neurobiological underpinnings of excessive alcohol consumption in a rodent (mice) model of alcohol use disorder. The lab employs a variety of advanced neuroscience techniques to accomplish these goals including: wet lab approaches (immunohistochemistry, western blotting, qPCR, RNAseq, tissue clearing, microscopy), in vivo approaches (chemogenetics, optogenetics, fiber photometry and single-cell calcium imaging) and dry lab approaches (advanced computational and deep machine learning approaches). Experience in these techniques is not required, but enthusiasm for learning new things is a plus.

The ideal individual for this position will be highly organized, detail oriented and familiar with the basic scientific method. The individual will be part of group of postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students working in the lab and should be flexible to work as a team and independently when necessary. Additionally, a calm and measured demeanor is a plus, as intracranial surgeries require patience and fine motor skills and behavioral experiments with rodents are sensitive to experimenter stress. This position is full time (40 hours per week) and largely during normal business hours, however occasional weekend or holiday work required (very minimal, though). This individual should show initiative, be a self-starter and highly motivated, with a strong work ethic and require minimal oversight from the PI and colleagues in the lab.

Entity

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC - Univ)

Worker Type

Employee

Worker Sub-Type​

Research Grant

Cost Center

CC000984 COM NEURO RES Operations CC

Pay Rate Type

Hourly

Pay Grade

University-GEN06

Pay Range

37,200.00 - 48,300.00 - 59,500.000

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

Work Shift

Job Description

Job Duties

 

30% Animal Husbandry & Breeding Colony Maintenance 

Assist in providing basic husbandry care for animals that are actively part of experimental studies. Additionally, the lab maintains a number of transgenic mouse lines (strains) that will need to be monitored, assigned to studies, and culled to maintain proper colony population. Order animals from designated vendors. 

 

30% Conducting Behavioral & Surgical Procedures in Mice 

Carry out various behavioral experimental procedures including, but not limited to, home cage alcohol drinking studies, operant alcohol self-administration models, cued-access protocols in both freely moving and head-fixed animals, as well as assessments of locomotor, affective and cognitive function. Additionally, many of our experiments will require intracranial surgery for either viral transfection and/or intracranial fiber/lens implants, thus stereotaxic surgery and BSL2 level procedures will be utilized.  

 

20% Wet Lab Procedures 

Assist in postmortem tissue collection and processing for various assays, including immunohistochemistry, western blotting, qPCR, RNAseq, etc. Additionally, ensure that standard lab solutions are stocked and refreshed as needed.

20% General Lab Organization  

Maintain laboratory supplies, place and receive orders. Maintain organized records/databases and update SOPs. Keep lab in clean and orderly condition.  

Additional Job Description

Minimum Requirements: A high school diploma and two years work experience in a clinical or research setting; a bachelor's degree in chemistry, biology, or other natural, life or health care science may be substituted for the two years of required experience.

Physical Requirements: (Note: The following descriptions are applicable to this section: Continuous - 6-8 hours per shift; Frequent - 2-6 hours per shift; Infrequent - 0-2 hours per shift) Ability to perform job functions in an upright position. (Frequent) Ability to perform job functions in a seated position. (Continuous) Ability to perform job functions while walking/mobile. (Frequent) Ability to climb, using step stool. (Infrequent) Ability to work in temperature extremes (32° F to 100° F) when required due to assignments in cold rooms and/or foreign countries. (Infrequent) Ability to work in confin