Research Associate in Biomedical Engineering

UVA Health•Charlottesville, VA

7d•$62,000 - $68,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia seeks a Research Associate to work in the Barker laboratory (Extracellular Matrix Biology and Engineering Laboratory). The work in the Barker Lab requires advanced experimental and computational expertise. While the postdoctoral position's responsibilities will involve combined experimental and computational work, the position emphasizes the innovation, development and application of Advanced Biomanufacturing, Tissue Engineering, and Microphysiological Systems/Lab-on-a-Chip methods and approaches toward the creation of fully human disease tissue model systems for drug screening and future hypothesis-driven mechanistic exploration. Additionally, the projects in the Barker lab focus on a new research thrust in retinal degenerative diseases including inherited retinal diseases. As such, the postdoc will be able to handle the workload and perform (and train other lab members in) their respective computational and experimental techniques to answer key questions in retinal biology, though experience in retinal biology is not a prerequisite. The postdoc will be expected to mentor, as appropriate, undergraduate and interact with graduate students, other postdocs and senior scientists, establish new application-specific methods, combine computational methods, as appropriate, with tissue engineering/organ-on-a-chip design, and contribute to grant applications and publications. The successful candidate will have demonstrated strong verbal and written communication skills, be an independent thinker unafraid of risk and demonstrate the potential to actively/proactively contribute to the growth/expansion of lab capabilities beyond the current state.

Requirements

Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, or a related field.
Strong experience across multiple areas of the following: tissue culture, microfabrication, 3D bioprinting, stem cell biology, molecular biology, retinal biology, NGS bioinformatics/transcriptomics, and computational modeling/machine learning.
Demonstrated strong verbal and written communication skills.
Independent thinker unafraid of risk.
Potential to actively/proactively contribute to the growth/expansion of lab capabilities beyond the current state.

Nice To Haves

Experience in retinal biology is not a prerequisite.

Responsibilities

Mentor undergraduate and interact with graduate students, other postdocs and senior scientists.
Establish new application-specific methods.
Combine computational methods with tissue engineering/organ-on-a-chip design.
Contribute to grant applications and publications.
Handle workload and perform (and train other lab members in) respective computational and experimental techniques to answer key questions in retinal biology.