| Job Description Summary: | The George Washington University, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health is looking for a laboratory Senior Research Assistant to join our molecular epidemiology and microbiome research group. The successful candidate will have a unique opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team on several important microbial genomic and epidemiologic projects. Our team uses innovative, multidisciplinary methods to quantify the impact of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from environmental reservoirs (e.g., food animals, retail meat/poultry) on human health.
We are working on a multi-year study to assess the impact of regulatory policy change on the rates of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in retail meat/poultry and human extraintestinal infections in California. A major goal of this project is to quantify the contribution of bacteria from food animals to human clinical infections by characterizing the genetic relatedness of strains from food and human sources. The project involves isolating important human pathogens from retail meat/poultry samples (i.e., E. coli, etc.), susceptibility testing, and molecular analyses such as real-time PCR assays and whole-genome sequencing.
This research support position contributes to research and development by assisting with experiments in a controlled laboratory setting. The core responsibilities of this position include designing and carrying out both culture-based and molecular biology experiments, performing established laboratory procedures, reporting results at meetings, assisting with data collection and management, and laboratory support. This role typically works under immediate supervision.
The Sr. Research Assistant will be supervised day-to-day by the laboratory manager but will work closely with the laboratory PIs (Drs. Lance Price and Cindy Liu) and other members of the research team. The initial appointment is for one year, with the opportunity for an extension after successful completion of the first year.
Responsibilities include: - Assist with laboratory research according to protocols, including sample processing, culturing bacteria, biomolecule isolation, and molecular analyses including PCR, real-time PCR, and whole genome and amplicon sequencing library preparation.
- Assist with sample and data collection for ongoing human microbiome studies, including recruitment, screening, consenting, clinical sample collection, and interactions with study subjects such as collecting survey data.
- Assist with the development and optimization of research protocols with assistance from PI and other laboratory staff. Our current protocol development efforts are focused on culture-based microbiology and laboratory automation using liquid-handling robots.
- Participate in general laboratory activities, such as inventory, equipment maintenance, and laboratory clean-up, and assist with the preparation of common laboratory reagents and media.
- Assist with data cleaning, entry, and data analysis under the guidance of PI.
- Assist with literature reviews and topic searches.
- Contribute to the preparation of grant applications, manuscripts, and presentations.
- Performs other related duties as assigned. The omission of specific duties does not preclude the supervisor from assigning duties that are logically related to the position
Qualified candidates will hold a BA/BS in a related discipline. Degree must be conferred by the start date of the position.
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| Preferred Qualifications: | - Bachelor’s degree in a science (i.e. biology, microbiology, chemistry, or other laboratory sciences) or a health-related field (e.g. public health) and one year of laboratory/research work experience
- Molecular biology laboratory experience (e.g. DNA extraction and PCR)
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel
- Laboratory experience with bacterial cultures and real-time PCR and/or library preparation for next-generation DNA sequencing
- Proficiency in statistical analysis (such as SAS, R, or STATA) and databases (such as REDCap)
- Experience operating liquid-handling robots, or with other laboratory automation
- Prior experience in the preparation of reports and presentations
- Strong written communication and organizational skills
- Self-motivated and able to multi-task, set priorities, work independently, and manage multiple deadlines
- Experience in conducting research in BSL-2 setting
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