Research Technician I

Bexorg•New Haven, CT

5d•$29•Onsite

About The Position

The Research Technician I will maintain human brain slice and cell cultures and perform daily laboratory work supporting drug studies. Senior staff will train the technician on each method, with the goal of developing the ability to run assays independently. The position is intended for someone early in their laboratory career who is careful, reliable, and interested in learning imaging and tissue methods. The technician will perform culture care, assay preparation and execution, fluorescence imaging, cryosectioning, and supervised support for qPCR and RNAscope. The role also involves assisting with drug-screening experiments, accurately recording samples and results, and maintaining laboratory supplies, equipment, cleanliness, waste handling, and safety. This is a full-time, on-site role in New Haven, Connecticut, with rotating night shifts and weekends. It reports to the Wet-Lab Lead, NeuroScale. Pay is 28.85 plus a night-shift differential.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in biology, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, or a related field, or an associate degree with relevant hands-on laboratory experience.
0–2 years of laboratory experience, including internships, co-ops, or laboratory courses.
Hands-on sterile cell or tissue culture experience.
Basic laboratory skills, including accurate pipetting, solution preparation, and use of plate readers or similar instruments.
Careful and consistent record keeping.
Willingness to work rotating night shifts and weekends.
Comfort working with human post-mortem tissue under biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) practices; training is provided.
A can-do attitude.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with any of the following: fluorescence microscopy, cryosectioning, qPCR, RNAscope, CellTiter-Glo, pyruvate or lactate assays, or drug screening.
Experience with primary cells, tissue samples, or neural cultures.
Comfort using Excel and basic image tools such as Fiji (ImageJ).

Responsibilities

Care for organotypic human brain slice cultures and cell cultures, including media changes, drug dosing, and daily checks using strict sterile technique.
Prepare media, buffers, reagents, and drug plates according to written protocols.
Run plate-based CellTiter-Glo viability assays and measure pyruvate and lactate in culture media.
Stain slices with live fluorescent dyes and image them using a widefield fluorescence microscope and slide scanner according to established protocols.
Cut 8–20 µm cryosections from fixed slices using a cryostat, mount them, and assist with immunofluorescence staining.
Support qPCR runs, including RNA extraction and plate setup, and assist with RNAscope in situ hybridization under supervision.
Help conduct drug-screening experiments in multi-well plates according to plate maps and dosing schedules.
Accurately record samples, treatments, and results in sample-tracking and data systems.
Maintain laboratory operations, including stock and inventory, equipment cleaning, waste handling, and safety upkeep.
Work rotating night shifts and weekends to keep cultures and assays on schedule.