UNIV - Staff Scientist I - Department of Neurosciences

Medical University of South Carolina • Charleston, SC

14d

About The Position

The C. Schmidt lab at the Neuroscience Department of MUSC is seeking a talented, motivated and detail-oriented staff scientist to join our new lab at the Darby Children’s Research Institute and the Hollings Cancer Center. We are looking for an individual with experience in neuroscience or cancer biology who is looking for an opportunity to lead research in our lab studying the early development of the brain and its susceptibility to cancer growth. This is an ideal position to advance in both basic science and translational research and suited for those who hold an advanced degree in biological science, such as cancer biology or neurosciences. The Schmidt lab studies the developmental origin of pediatric brain cancers using a variety of molecular and stem cell biology techniques, including genetic editing via lentiviral infection or CRISPR/Cas9 systems, RNA/ATAC/CUT&RUN sequencing, human induced-pluripotent stem cell and human neural stem cell cultures, human brain organoid cultures and mouse intracranial injections. Experience in a few these techniques is preferred, and enthusiasm for research and learning new skills should be present. For more details on the Schmidt Lab research please visit our lab website: https://cschmidtlab.com This is an excellent opportunity for individuals interested in conducting cutting-edge research. It is especially suited for those with advanced training in biomedical research to develop further project leadership, support laboratory personnel and provide intellectual input for the Schmidt’s lab research. This position is vital for lab operations, experimental assistance, and contributions to neuroscience and cancer research. The ideal individual for this position will be a highly organized, detail-oriented, and self-motivated person to drive the progress of research projects through planning, execution, troubleshooting and data analysis.

Requirements

• PhD, MD or equivalent
• Minimum 2 years research experience post-doctorate
• Modest publication record
• Strong organizational, multitasking, and communication skills
• Ability to work independently and as a member of a research team
• Can Manage projects of moderate size with PI input
• Experience with culturing mammalian cells
• Experience with molecular biology and biochemistry techniques, such as molecular cloning, qRT-PCR, shRNA/siRNA gene knockdown, immunoblotting/immunofluorescence imaging

Nice To Haves

• Culturing human pluripotent stem cells, embryonic stem cells, or organoids
• Genome editing (e.g. CRISRP/Cas9) experience
• Experience with genomic data analysis and plotting (RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, CUT&RUN seq)

Responsibilities

• Tissue Culture Work: Lead and train laboratory staff in tissue culture work. Maintain and use stem cell lines and primary cell cultures for experimental purposes, this includes and is not limited to human iPS cells, neuronal stem cell cultures, human tumor cell lines, standard fibroblast cultures (HEK 293T) and brain organoid cultures. Experimental tissue culture work includes, proliferation or cell/death assays, drug treatments, transfections, lentivirus production and viral transductions (BSL2 work). It is also the responsibility of the staff scientist to maintain a clean environment in the tissue culture room, upkeep inventory including reagent stocks and aliquots, and oversea equipment maintenance in teamwork with any other lab managers/research specialists in the Schmidt lab.
• Wet Lab Procedures: Lead laboratory staff in molecular biology techniques, particularly cloning targeting constructs and CRISPR/Cas9, RNA and protein isolation, qRT-PCR, western blot, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry staining and microscopy, cryosectioning of cryo-frozen tissue blocks, flow cytometry, handling plasmids and bacteria, preparing lab reagents, analyzing data for scientific reports.
• General Lab Maintenance and Organization: Maintain laboratory supplies and consumables, perform routine cleaning of laboratory and tissue culture space, clean glassware and autoclave glassware and plastics, ensure safety and compliance guidelines, introduce new lab members to the lab space and work. Assist the principal investigator in establishing an efficient lab, foster science and training.
• Ex vivo tissue processing: Carry out dissections of tissue from mouse cadavers, processing of tissue and dissociated cells for further analysis and downstream assays.
• Prepare initial versions of manuscripts, abstracts, progress reports and SOPs that include publication-quality figures, detailed experimental methods and drafts of the introduction, results and discussion sections. Prepare posters for presentations at national and international meetings.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree