Research Technologist 1 (Temporary)

University of Washington•Seattle, WA

1d•$45,288 - $52,104•Onsite

About The Position

The Department of Oral Health Sciences (OHS) has an outstanding opportunity for a Research Technologist 1 to join their team. This will be a nonpermanent fixed duration (six-month) position. OHS brings together faculty from different ends of the dental and oral health research spectrum into a single department that has expertise ranging from the modern experimental life sciences through the public health and behavioral sciences. OHS has the goal of improving the oral and general health and well-being of our diverse global population through research, teaching and service. OHS has a broadly defined mission that accommodates diverse faculty interests and expertise. At present, OHS enjoys faculty expertise in areas including anatomy, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, biostatistics, epidemiology, behavioral science (basic and applied), public health, dental hygiene, education, law, medicine, and clinical dentistry including faculty members with specialty training in periodontics, orthodontics, and oral medicine. OHS also sponsors the School of Dentistry’s only PhD program as well as the combined DDS-PhD program and the Masters of Science program for Dental Hygiene. Our graduate programs provide advanced interdisciplinary training for graduate students to enable them to become academic and research leaders in the dental and craniofacial sciences, and to contribute to improved understanding of human oral and systemic health and disease. The Department of Oral Health Science is seeking a full-time Research Technologist. The Research Technologist will join a laboratory that studies gene regulatory networks governing differentiation of precursor cells in the embryo and stem cells in the adult. One focus is the progression of the melanocyte lineage, which includes neural crest, melanocyte stem cells, melanocytes, and how this progression is corrupted and co-opted in melanoma. Another focus is the genetic underpinnings of orofacial cleft, with an emphasis on differentiation of periderm, and on non-coding variants that predispose individuals to orofacial cleft. Projects range from the basic sciences using in vitro and in vivo models to translational and clinical studies. The Research Technologist will work under the oversight of the principal investigator and postdoctoral scholars to provide broad support for carrying out research projects The Research Technologist will help support general laboratory operations, zebrafish strain maintenance, and conduct experiments. The Research Technologist will be expected to interact in a collaborative manner with other team members to accomplish organizational goals and to contribute to group efforts in all areas. The Research Technologist will be expected to work flexible hours based on experiment needs.

Requirements

Two years experience as a Laboratory Technician II, or equivalent; OR a Bachelors Degree in an appropriate field of science or technology.
Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.

Responsibilities

Order laboratory supplies, receiving deliveries as needed.
Pouring agar plates for bacterial culture, pulling glass pipettes for embryo injections, assemble bridged cover slips for slides.
Maintain the zebrafish stock database.
Setting up and taking down fish crosses, bringing embryos from the fish facility to the lab.
Be the Chemical Hygiene Officer for the lab, whose duties include conducting quarterly inspections to insure compliance with rules from UW Environmental Health and Safety, keeping track of the labs chemical inventory, and maintaining standard operating procedure documents for those chemicals.
Perform procedures to assess the genotype adult zebrafish (i.e., anesthetize fish, clip fins, harvest genomic DNA, conduct PCR).
Perform injections into zebrafish embryos of oligonucleotides or Crispr/Cas9 reagents.
Sort embryos based on phenotype, including pattern of green fluorescent expression, and document the phenotypes.
Carry out histology on fixed zebrafish embryos.
Propagate tissue culture cell lines.
Conduct bioinformatic analysis of RNA and DNA sequencing data.
Carry out experiments to facilitate the projects of other laboratory staff, including the principal investigator research scientists, graduate students and postdocs.