Research Assistant II, Levi Lab

UT Southwestern Medical Center • Dallas, TX

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Works under general direction to either plan, coordinate, supervise, and participate in assigned research projects or perform more complex research assignments requiring considerable experience and thorough knowledge of techniques and practices related to particular field of medical or scientific research. This role involves managing in vivo models and animal colonies, processing tissues for histology and imaging, performing cellular and molecular assays, and ensuring research operations, data quality, and compliance. The Research Assistant II will also contribute to data analysis, manuscript preparation, and training of new laboratory members.

Requirements

• Master's Degree with major coursework in field of assignment or Bachelor's Degree with major coursework in field of assignment or Completion of 2 years of college or specialized training in histology, serology, medical technology, etc. or High School Diploma including courses in basic sciences or GED equivalent
• 1 year of experience as Research Assistant I or equivalent with Master's degree or 2 years of experience including one (1) year as Research Assistant I or equivalent with Bachelor's degree or 5 years of experience, including one (1) year as Research Assistant I or equivalent with two years of college or 7 years of experience, including one (1) year as Research Assistant I or equivalent with High School Diploma or GED equivalent
• Experience with mouse handling, survival surgery, colony management, tissue dissection, histology, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, mammalian cell culture, or molecular biology is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, strong organizational and communication skills, ability to manage multiple experiments, and willingness to learn technically demanding in vivo and translational methods.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's degree in biology, biomedical engineering, immunology, molecular biology, neuroscience, physiology, or a related field, with relevant laboratory experience consistent with institutional requirements for Research Assistant II.
• Experience with quantitative image analysis, R or Python, transcriptomic datasets, or musculoskeletal research is desirable but not required.

Responsibilities

• Maintain breeding colonies, genotype transgenic and reporter mouse lines, track experimental cohorts, and maintain complete colony and procedure records.
• Assist with and, after training and certification, perform mouse models relevant to the laboratory, including burn/tenotomy and other models of heterotopic ossification, tendon injury or overuse, digit amputation and regeneration, wound healing, and pharmacologic or genetic intervention studies.
• Administer study agents, monitor animals, collect blood and tissues at defined time points, and perform post-procedure assessments in accordance with approved IACUC protocols.
• Support functional phenotyping when required, including range-of-motion, gait, loading, pain-behavior, and tendon or musculoskeletal outcome assessments.
• Harvest, fix, decalcify, embed, section, and stain musculoskeletal, skin, tendon, nerve, lymphatic, and wound tissues.
• Perform histologic and immunostaining methods such as H&E, Masson's trichrome, picrosirius red, Safranin O, TRAP, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and multiplex staining or RNAscope as projects require.
• Acquire and analyze brightfield, fluorescence, and confocal microscopy images; quantify cell populations, vessel density, collagen organization, and marker colocalization using ImageJ/Fiji or related software.
• Prepare specimens for micro-computed tomography and perform or coordinate quantitative analysis of heterotopic bone, bone regeneration, and skeletal morphology.
• Isolate cells from blood, bone marrow, skin, tendon, and injury-site tissues; generate single-cell suspensions; perform multicolor flow cytometry and assist with fluorescence-activated cell sorting.
• Culture primary cells, including mesenchymal or skeletal progenitor cells, keratinocytes, macrophage or dendritic-cell populations, and other project-specific cell types; perform migration, differentiation, co-culture, and conditioned-media assays.
• Perform RNA and protein extraction, quantitative RT-PCR, ELISA or multiplex cytokine assays, western blotting, and related molecular assays.
• Prepare high-quality samples and associated metadata for bulk RNA sequencing, single-cell RNA sequencing, lipidomics, metabolomics, and other core-facility analyses; assist with quality control and interpretation of results.
• Support gene perturbation studies, which may include siRNA or CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein nucleofection, validation of editing efficiency, and phenotypic assays.
• Maintain detailed electronic laboratory notebooks, sample inventories, reagent stocks, standard operating procedures, and organized primary data suitable for reproducible research and publication.
• Analyze experimental data, prepare figures and summaries, contribute to laboratory meetings, and assist with manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, and grant-related materials.
• Coordinate experiments with institutional cores and collaborators, including flow cytometry, microscopy, genomics, metabolomics, pathology, and micro-CT facilities.
• Maintain laboratory equipment and shared spaces; order supplies; follow biosafety, chemical safety, animal research, and human-subject or biospecimen requirements; and assist with protocol documentation and renewals.
• Train students and new laboratory members in established procedures and promote a rigorous, collaborative, and safety-focused research environment.
• Plans, coordinates, and supervises assigned research projects, which may be limited as segment of larger project, exercising responsibility for project performance and accountability for progress; and/or personally performs advanced scientific and medical research work, suggesting modifications to, or improvements in, design of research projects, presenting original ideas for follow-up studies, and recommending utilization of new or revised techniques and procedures to obtain desired results.
• Constructs, assembles, and operates experimental or other special designed laboratory apparatus and equipment.
• Assembles and analyzes research data.
• Assists in preparation of material for reports or publication.
• May supervise group of Research Technicians and/or Research Assistants of lower grade, making work assignments, advising on work procedures, and reviewing work in process and upon completion.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• PPO medical plan, available day one at no cost for full-time employee-only coverage
• 100%25 coverage for preventive healthcare-no copay
• Paid Time Off, available day one
• Retirement Programs through the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)
• Paid Parental Leave Benefit
• Wellness programs
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Qualified Employer

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED