Lab Technician or Specialist, Wythe Lab

The Wythe Lab is currently seeking a Lab Technician or Specialist to join our team to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying the basis of vascular malformations and cardiovascular disease, with a focus on studying the vasculature in the brain. An ideal applicant will be a self-started, motivated to learn new techniques, organized, works well in a team environment, and has excellent organizational skills and a good understanding of basic molecular biology or biochemistry. An added bonus is if the applicant is experienced working with cell culture models, zebrafish, or mice. This position is ideal for graduating seniors looking to take a year or two off before medical school or graduate school that would like to publish papers and get extensive research experience.

The individual hired will have several specific duties related to the overall goal of the research effort. They will include generating DNA constructs for generation of transgenic mice, basic manipulation of mouse embryos, maintenance of a mouse colony, and use of a variety of developmental biology, cell culture, immunohistochemical and molecular biology techniques to analyze tissues and cells in order to understand how endothelial cells differentiate into arterial and venous cells during development. The candidate will interact with the supervisor on a daily basis but will be expected to independently perform and execute successful experiments, and to perform routine lab maintenance and organization. A lack of mouse experience can be offset by advanced skills in cell culture and biochemistry or cell-based assays, or extensive experience with zebrafish husbandry and embryology.

Total Work Effort:

• 30%- Work with mouse or zebrafish models. General animal husbandry and maintenance of a medium size mouse or zebrafish colony. Embryo dissection and processing of fixed samples for. X-gal staining, in-situ hybridization, and antibody staining (whole mount and section) and imaging (confocal, etc.).
• 5%- Lab Maintenance. Sharing general lab maintenance responsibilities with other lab members (cleaning, etc), ordering supplies from vendors and negotiating price quotes, inventory of supplies and chemicals, scheduling and organizing maintenance and repair of laboratory equipment, and making general solutions.
• 25%- Molecular biology and biochemistry. Restriction enzyme digestion and mapping, agarose and acrylamide gel electrophoresis, isolation of DNA from agarose gel, ligation of DNA, transformation of DNA, mini- and maxi-preparation of DNA, PCR, isolation of RNA, southern, northern, and western blotting, synthesis of cDNA from RNA, quantitative RT-PCR, in-vitro transcription. Documents results of experiments (keep an electronic lab notebook and make PPTs of results).
• 25%- Tissue Culture. Propagation of mammalian cells, transient and stable transfection of cultured cells, isolation of DNA, RNA, and protein from cultured cells, antibody staining of cultured cells, luciferase activity quantitation in cultured cells.
• 10%- Data Analysis. Simple data analysis in excel spreadsheet format by performing arithmetical operations (multiplication, division, etc) on a set of data points, as well as obtaining the mean, standard deviation, and standard error of a sample set. Results would be plotted on simple charts.
• 5%- Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Requirements

Lab Technician:

• Education: Associate’s degree required; may accept equivalent combination of experience, education, certification in lieu of degree.
• Experience: 2+ years of lab experience which may include student experience.

Lab Specialist:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required, may accept combination of experience/education/certification in lieu of degree.
• Experience: 1+ year of relevant lab experience required

Preferred Experience:

• A working, fundamental knowledge of basic molecular biology
• Mouse or zebrafish husbandry and colony maintenance
• PCR-based genotyping
• Proficiency with the Microsoft office suite (excel, word, powerpoint) and computers in general
• Rigorous attention to detail, excellent organization and record keeping skills
• Familiarity with FileMaker pro
• Ability to learn and employ new software for record keeping and database management.

Anticipated Compensation (commensurate with education and experience):

• Lab Tech: $17.31 - $19/hour

• Lab Specialist: $19 - $22/hour

Physical Demands: This position can spend extensive periods of time standing and squatting while conducting experiments or caring for animals. Also requires keyboarding and other bench work and animal procedures requiring finer finger manipulation.

This position will not sponsor applicants already in the US for work visas.

This is a restricted position; continuation is dependent on funding and satisfactory performance. 

This position is located in Charlottesville, Virginia. This is a full-time benefited position.  For more information on the benefits at UVA, visit www.hr.virginia.edu/benefits. 

The University will perform background checks on all new hires prior to employment. A completed health screen is required for this position within 30 days.

Application Process:

Please apply online, and search for R0088455. Internal applicants may search and apply for jobs on the UVA Internal Careers website. Complete an application online with the following documents:

• CV/Resume
• Cover Letter 

Upload all materials into the resume submission field, multiple documents can be submitted into this one field. Alternatively, merge all documents into one PDF for submission. Applications that do not contain all the required documents will not receive full consideration. 

References will be completed via UVA’s standardized process SkillSurvey. A total of five references will be requested via SkillSurvey during the final phase of the interview process. A minimum of three are required.

For information regarding the position or the application process, please contact Jessica Speth, Academic Recruiter, js9rk@virginia.edu.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity employer. All interested persons are encouraged to apply, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Learn more about UVA’s commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity employment.