Research Assistant II

The Jackson Laboratory • Farmington, CT

4d • $42,751 - $71,575

About The Position

The Hinson lab at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and UConn Health is seeking a motivated, detail-oriented Research Assistant III to join the ARPA-H Cardioverse program. Cardioverse aims to build digital twins of the human heart that predict drug safety and efficacy. The team generates large-scale, high-quality experimental data from human engineered heart tissues (EHTs) made from iPSC lines representing human genetic diversity. These data train and validate predictive computational models.

The role is part of a collaborative, milestone-driven team spanning stem cell biology, tissue engineering, cardiac physiology, genome editing, and multi-omics.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in biology, biomedical science, bioengineering, or a related field with at least 3 years of relevant laboratory experience, or a Master’s degree with at least 1 year of relevant laboratory experience.
• Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture.
• Comfort with high-throughput, multiwell workflows and meticulous record keeping.
• Basic data analysis skills, such as Excel and Prism.
• Strong organizational and communication skills, and the ability to work independently and as part of a team with tight timelines and defined deliverables.

Nice To Haves

• iPSC culture and differentiation experience.
• Experience with cardiomyocytes, tissue engineering, or physiological assays such as contractility or calcium imaging.
• Experience with pharmacology or compound screening.
• Experience with R or Python.

Responsibilities

• Culture, differentiate, and quality-control iPSC lines from genetically diverse donors, and generate iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes at scale.
• Fabricate 3D engineered heart tissues and microtissues in multiwell formats using standardized protocols to ensure reproducibility across lines, batches, and operators.
• Perform functional assays on engineered heart tissues, including contractile force, kinetics, and calcium handling, and test compounds in dose-response studies for drug safety and efficacy.
• Prepare samples for multi-omic profiling, such as RNA-seq and single-cell assays, and imaging.
• Document experiments in detail, including metadata, line identifiers, and batch information, and follow data management practices that support computational modeling.
• Process and organize data, apply quality-control criteria, and collaborate with computational team members building digital twin models.
• Support genome editing of iPSC lines and, as needed, in vivo mouse studies that validate findings from the human tissue platform.
• Maintain laboratory supplies, equipment, and protocols, and help train new lab members.

What This Job Offers

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