Research Technician
About the Department
Commensal bacteria constituting the microbiome impact human health in a variety of ways. The Duchossois Family Institute (DFI) is investigating how the microbiome enhances resistance to diseases by performing genomic and metabolomic analyses on a wide range of commensal bacteria derived from healthy humans. Laboratory studies in the DFI currently focus on dissecting the competitive and symbiotic interactions between commensal bacteria, in the process generating massive amounts of data that require computational and system biology platforms for analysis.
Job Summary
The job performs routine assignments related to scientific research projects. Ensures compliance of research activities with institutional, state, and federal regulatory policies, procedures, directives and mandates. Analyzes possible solutions using standard procedures. Writes articles, reports and manuscripts. Assists in drafting presentations on research findings. The applicant will work under the general supervision of the DFI Symbiotic Strain Bank manager and other lab members in accordance with established institutional policies and procedures. Conducts a variety of experiments. Calculates, transcribes, and analyzes data.
Responsibilities
- Aliquoting and prepare experimental and clinical samples for long-term storage.
- Preparing media and solutions used for the cultivation of bacterial strains.
- Isolating anaerobic bacterial strains from clinical samples.
- Characterizing bacteria using basic microbiological techniques (colony morphology description, gram staining, growth curves, etc.).
- Identifying anaerobic bacterial strains using colony PCR and 16S rRNA sequencing.
- Maintains technical and administrative support for a research project.
- Analyzes and maintains data and/or specimens. Conducts literature reviews. Assists with preparation of reports, manuscripts and other documents.
- Installs, sets up and performs experiments; interacting with students and other laboratory staff under the direction of the principal investigator.
- Performs other related work as needed.
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.
Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through < 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Preferred Qualifications
Education:
- BS in Microbiology, Biology or related scientific discipline.
Experience:
- Experience cultivating, characterizing, and preserving mircoorganisms.
- Experience working in anaerobic chambers and/or glove boxes.
- Experience processing and analyzing Sanger Sequencing results.
- Basic competency and experience using R statistical software.
Preferred Competencies
- Experience with aseptic technique to cultivate bacterial strains.
- Experience with basic laboratory techniques including nucleic acid extraction, purification, and PCR amplification.
- Excellent record keeping and organizational skills.
- Strong multi-tasking and time-management capabilities.
- Interactive communication and the ability to work as a team player.
- Ability to work independently.
- Adaptability to changing working situations and work assignments.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
Working Conditions
- Lab environment.
- Animals.
- Physical ability to move, connect and disconnect gas cylinders.
Application Documents
- Resume (required)
- Cover Letter ( preferred)
When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.
Posting Statement
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