RNA-Seq Blog Transcriptome Research & Industry News
Description:
The Shalek Lab (http://shaleklab.com, MIT, Broad Institute, and Ragon Institute) in collaboration with the Walker Lab (http://www.ragoninstitute.org/portfolio-item/walker-lab/, Ragon Institute) has an opening for a highly motivated Research Technician to assist in a global profiling of the immune system in acute HIV infection. The candidate, under the supervision of Prof. Alex Shalek and Prof. Bruce Walker, will learn, apply, and teach novel systems biology techniques like single-cell RNA-Sequencing in order to profile immune responses in acute HIV infection. The position will require intermittent travel (two weeks, 2-3 times) to Durban, South Africa to work with partner labs and unique samples, available exclusively to research institutes (HIV Pathogenesis Programme, http://hpp.ukzn.ac.za/; Africa Health Research Institute, http://www.k-rith.org/) located there. Moreover, due to the large number of samples and affiliated labs and personnel, the position requires critical attention to detail, excellent communication, and time-management skills. The individual will gain fundamental skills working in an interdisciplinary and technologically driven environment and gain access to the intellectual resources present across three institutes in Cambridge, and two in Durban.
Job Duties:
The Research Technician’s role will be to carry out the science associated with this project and support the Principal Investigators and other collaborators of the study. The Research Technician will be responsible for coordinating and executing experiments in both Cambridge and Durban throughout the year.
Laboratory and related work:
- Cell/tissue processing, culture and maintenance
- Immunological Assays (e.g. antibody staining, flow cytometry)
- RNA-seq library preparation and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)
- Elementary analysis of RNA-Seq data using R
Communication and Documentation:
- Maintain regular communication between the Shalek, Walker, and affiliate labs in Durban, South Africa
- Regular organization and updates of documentation associated with sample processing and analysis
- Preparation of presentation materials for internal and external meetings
- Regular communication with supervisors and team/group colleagues
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree, preferably with course work in biology, chemistry, and/or genomics, and at least one year of bench experience
- Strong time management and communication skills to balance multiple experiments between several collaborators
- Ability to multi-task and work independently under pressure
- Ability to work in a team environment, meet deadlines, and prioritize and balance work from multiple individuals
- Experience with R (and/or other programming languages) is desirable
- Ability and willingness to travel to South Africa for 2-3 weeks several times throughout the year
- One year of prior experience required
EEO Statement Massachusetts General Hospital is an Equal Opportunity Employer. By embracing diverse skills, perspectives and ideas, we choose to lead. Applications from protected veterans and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged.
