Asst Research Scientist/Engin

University of Iowa•Iowa City, IA

About The Position

Conduct research in the environmental health sciences, being involved in research proposals and grant funding applications. Design, execute and control experimental research studies. Coordinate the processing and analysis of data, conduct experimental tests and procedures. Conduct literature reviews, analyze research data, and disseminate research findings. Prepare manuscripts and publish. Develop and evaluate new and/or revised research methodologies for an assessment of toxicity of different xenobiotics.

Requirements

PhD in toxicology.
1 year of experience in biomedical science or analytical toxicology.
Experience in writing and publishing research manuscripts, reports, presentations.
Record of publishing original research in peer-reviewed journals.
Demonstrated experience in establishing, validating, troubleshooting, and executing the analysis of environmental contaminants in complex matrices.
Demonstrated experience with animal studies, including colony breeding, drug administration, blood and tissue collection.
Demonstrated experience with rodents neurobehavioral testing, including but not limited to open field test, y-maze, elevated plus maze, and novel object recognition test.
Demonstrated experience with cell culture.
Demonstrated experience with basic molecular biology techniques, including DNA and RNA isolation, western blot, qPCR, and ELISA.
Demonstrated ability to work in a multidisciplinary research team, with collaborators inside and outside the University of Iowa.
Experience with omics data analysis, e.g. RNA sequencing, metabolomics, or proteomics.
Experience with data analysis/statistics/programming in Prism, R, and/or Python.
Experience with histopathology and imaging.
Ability to mentor graduate and undergraduate students.

Nice To Haves

MS in toxicology or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience with grant writing.
Expert proficiency with analytical instrumentation, e.g., GC-MS or LC-MS.

Responsibilities

Design, coordinate and conduct experimental toxicology studies.
Develop, troubleshoot and formulate new protocols and hypotheses in toxicology studies.
In collaboration with PI, develop and implement research plans.
Collect data and evaluate relevance of data.
Work independently on basic research tasks with oversight by PI.
Contribute to documentation of equipment and procedures.
Operate and maintain analytical instrumentation for measurement of relevant toxicological outcomes.
Analyze data for relevance and data integrity.
Compare results of scientific investigations to previously published work in area of environmental toxicology.
Perform critical analysis of relevant literature and current developments on topics related to the environmental health sciences and evaluation of current methods used in the laboratory practice.
Design and implement data processing systems to code research data and prepare comprehensive reports on research studies.
Independently and efficiently schedule and perform quantification of toxicants using established standard operating procedures.
Oversee QA/QC processes to ensure optimal laboratory practice.
Analyze research data independently (with minimal guidance) prepare and organize the results of research undertaken for publication in reports, research papers and journals.
Independently prepare manuscripts and publish.
Develop new methodology and techniques related to toxicity assessment of environmental compounds.
Perform statistical analyses of obtained data and interpret the findings.
Manage grant proposals including budgets.
Contribute to new or continuing research grant proposals to obtain funding for research studies.
Serve as co-PI on grants and proposals or a consultant to principal investigator of the project, faculty and staff.
Contribute to progress reports required by funding agencies.
Supervise adherence to safety and compliance guidelines when necessary.
Manage the paperwork concerning the projects requiring approval by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).
Provide service to the scientific community, University and general public.
Review submitted manuscript and research proposals.
Consult and collaborate with the research community.
Participate in public outreach activities as required by funding sources.
Participate in national and international meetings in chemistry or toxicology.
Train and instruct new staff.
Mentor and train graduate students.
Support personnel in techniques, protocols and instruments used in the laboratory.
Provide direction, assignments, feedback, coaching and counseling to assure outcomes are achieved.