Associate Scientist- Kumar Laboratory

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital • Memphis, TN

20d

About The Position

The Kumar Laboratory in the Department of Host-Microbe Interactions at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital studies how medications and host immune factors remodel the gut microbiome and alter intestinal homeostasis. The lab combines clinical and high-throughput omics datasets with mechanistic molecular microbiology, anaerobic culturomics, and gnotobiotic models to investigate how microbiome changes affect susceptibility to infectious and non-infectious gastrointestinal diseases.

The Associate Scientist will drive core research projects, lead in vivo operations, and assist with overall laboratory management. The role requires high scientific independence and the ability to execute complex experimental workflows while helping maintain a productive, well-organized research environment. The position includes leading in vivo research across germ-free, gnotobiotic, and conventional colonies; independently conducting and troubleshooting experiments; coordinating laboratory operations; analyzing and presenting research; and guiding junior lab members and trainees.

A bachelor’s degree in a relevant scientific area is the minimum education requirement. Required research experience is 7 or more years with a bachelor’s degree, 5 or more years with a master’s degree, or 2 or more years with a Ph.D. The salary range is $65,520–$114,400 per year. Candidates should submit a cover letter outlining their research background, leadership and in vivo workflow experience, and career goals.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant scientific area.
• At least 7 years of research experience with a bachelor’s degree, at least 5 years with a master’s degree, or at least 2 years with a Ph.D.
• Proven performance in an earlier or comparable role.

Nice To Haves

• Experience leading and supporting research experiments.
• Experience leading laboratory and scientific project coordination, maintenance, and other research support activities.
• Experience guiding and training other laboratory personnel.
• Experience with anaerobic bacteriology, culturomics, mucosal immunology assays, or basic computational workflows for microbiome analysis using R or Python.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate in vivo research workflows across germ-free, gnotobiotic (isolator and IVC systems), and conventional colonies.
• Execute infectious challenges, oral gavages, colonized consortia studies, and tissue harvests.
• Independently design, perform, optimize, and troubleshoot experiments in molecular biology, anaerobic bacteriology, culturomics, and microbial genetics.
• Coordinate day-to-day laboratory operations, including ordering and purchasing reagents and consumables, maintaining vendor relations, and managing equipment maintenance and calibrations.
• Write and update standard operating procedures, biosafety protocols, and IACUC amendments.
• Process, organize, and rigorously analyze experimental data.
• Lead or significantly contribute to drafting, editing, and revising manuscripts, figures, grant applications, and progress reports.
• Provide technical guidance, protocol training, and day-to-day support to junior lab members, rotation graduate students, and research technologists.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level