Summary

The technician in this position will perform research into how the human microbiome impacts health and disease. A primary focus of this position will be culturomics of the human microbiome that  includes growing individual bacterial isolates, cultivating complex microbial communities in bioreactor models, and conducting experiments using human-derived microbes. Responsibilities include setting up experiments, documenting findings, analyzing experimental results, maintaining instruments and equipment, and presenting data. 

Job Duties

• Performs culturomics that lead to microbial strain isolation from human, mouse, and other environmental samples.
• Performs routine technical laboratory procedures in molecular biology and microbiology that includes but not limited to various complex media preparation, plating and processes microbial samples, antimicrobial resistance testing, isolation and purification of strains, DNA extraction, PCR amplification, gel electrophoresis, qPCR, growth curves.
• Cultivates microbial communities in mini-bioreactor arrays in anaerobic chambers.
• Assists in operating and maintains anaerobic and microoxic chambers.
• Maintains accurate thorough records in eLabNext electronic laboratory notebook with experiment documentation and analysis of experimental data.
• Uses software tools for data documentation, sharing, and analysis that includes eLabNext, Microsoft Excel, GraphPad Prism, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, and taxonomic identification tools.
• Participates in lab group meetings and engages in data analysis and figure generation for presentations and research publications.
• Prepares and conducts a variety of laboratory research experiments.
• Collects, compiles, and analyzes data.
• Documents results of experiments.
• Contributes to laboratory and project meetings.
• Conducts literature searches and summarizes the information.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a Basic Science or related field. Four years of related experience may substitute for degree requirement.
• No experience required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Microbiology or related field. Four years of related experience may substitute for degree requirement.
• Has strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience in basic microbiology, strain isolation, and molecular biology.
• Experience in data collection and analysis, using basic statistical tools for analyzing data.