Work in Washington Veterans Jobs

Req #: 228861

Department: MICROBIOLOGY

Posting Date: 02/14/2024

Closing Info: Open Until Filled

Salary: $6,726 - $7,666 per month

Shift: First Shift

Notes: As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here. (https://hr.uw.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/02/benefits-professional-staff-librarians-academic-staff-20230119_a11y.pdf)

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

POSITION PURPOSE The Department of Microbiology is seeking a full-time Research Scientist Engineer 4 for the Dr. Fuller lab. This position will participate in research projects that will be focused on the development, characterization, and refinement of vaccines and therapeutics targeting infectious diseases and cancers. This position will support projects developing and testing nucleic acid vaccine constructs in murine models of infectious disease and potentially non-human primate models of disease.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Research Project Management and Leadership 30%

• Engage with PI, scientific leads in the Fuller lab and our collaborators (academic and industry), review grant funding Specific Aims, to research, contribute to, and refine project goals. Design and propose (individually or group) experiments, cohorts, assays, to address project goals.

• Lead, train, delegate, and supervise support personnel (undergraduates, technicians, graduate students, etc) in specific projects or assay completion.

• Routinely receive updates from support personnel regarding project status. Review and analyze data collected by delegated staff. Present data to project team groups and establish conclusions and/or next steps in address of project goals. Encourage delegated personnel to present their own generated data independently when appropriate but maintain supervision and leadership over the delegated data and post-analysis presentation and decision-making.

• Ensure agreed-upon project timelines and milestones are achieved. When changes or delays to project timelines manifest, update the affected teams/personnel and collaborating groups and propose resolutions.Wet Lab Scientist 40%

• Conduct work in BSL1-2+, ABSL1-2

• Evaluate immunogenicity and efficacy of vaccines for HIV/SHIV/SIV, SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, Hepatitis B, Flavivirus,

• Coccidioidomycosis, and cancer, among others. Both T cell and humoral responses. Ex. Assays ELISpot, ICS/flow cytometry, ELISA, Hemagglutinin Inhibition Assay, TCID50, PRNT/Plaque Assay, RT-qPCR viral loads, etc

• Conduct animal studies. Mouse handling, injections (IM, SQ, IP, RO), ear punching, vaccinations (Gene Gun, IM, Intranasal, among other routes), challenge inoculations (influenza, flavivirus)

• Sample collection (blood, mucosal secretion, mucosal samples), endpoint sample collection: spleen, lung, blood, among others as necessitated per individual experiment/model -Tumor placement and time course size measurements

• Prepare mice for shipment to collaborators for viral/fungal challenge or other experimental procedures

• Molecular biology, tissue culture, sample processing

• Routine cloning and vaccine plasmid prep in e coli, transfection to mammalian cell line to evaluate successful expression before in vivo administration. Western blot, gel electrophoresis, protein purification, DNA/RNA isolation, PCR/RTPCR/RT-qPCR

• Prepare nucleic acid vaccine constructs for in vivo administration, most commonly via Gene Gun (Particle Mediated Epidermal Delivery) although other preparations may be required dependent on the research goals

• Immune cell isolation from primary animal tissue/blood samples

• Maintain cultures of common mammalian cell lines such as vero, MDCK, HEK293t, HeLa, CHO, B16, etc

• Analyze data in SoftMax Pro, Excel, Graphpad Prism, FlowJo and preparation of figures in GraphPad Prism and BioRender

• Author first author publications of relevant research project. Contribute to collaborative publications.Lab Management 30%

• General lab upkeep – an individual and delegated responsibility

• Has authority to order lab supplies and reagents for specific teams/projects

• Environmental Health and Safety compliance – facilitate safe workplace environment and uphold university standards

• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee – Animal use protocols require in depth understanding and semi-frequent review and revision.

• Schedule lab or related team meetings

• Monitor lab equipment and place service calls when in need of repair or preventative maintenance

• SOP creation, review, and revision

• Facilitate annual/semi-annual licensure/permitting for controlled substances (WA State DOH, DEA, etc)

• Communicate with departmental and university liaisons regarding broad updates and relay those to PI and/or lab personnel

• Stay apprised of new technologies, assays, vendors, products and evaluate/present use-case scenarios to PI and/or other personnel. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS Master's degree in a related field and four years of relevant experience, OR Equivalent combination of education/experience. DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Doctoral Degree in Biochemistry, immunology, or other comparable field.

• Biochemistry background and techniques– Routine cloning and molecular biology techniques (PCR, RE digest, gel electrophoresis, etc)

• Immunology background and techniques – Immune cell isolation from primary tissue samples

• Exceptional organizational, time management, and interpersonal communication skills

• Rigorous immunology knowledge as it pertains to the evaluation of vaccine and antiviral immunogenicity/efficacy.

• Experience in hypothesis driven experimental design and execution

• Flow cytometry, ELISpot experience Application Process: The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.

University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, among other things, race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.