Assistant Research Scientist (UA Center for Disparities in Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism)

The UA Center for Disparities in Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism (CDDOM) is seeking a full-time Assistant Research Scientist who will facilitate, implement, perform, and oversee a wide variety of complex research experiments within the Mandarino Laboratory. They will organize, manage, and carry out research, including running complex experiments, compiling results, evaluation, and presentation of hypothesis driven experiments. The Assistant Research Scientist will be expected to collaborate in the development of new techniques, troubleshoot new protocols, and collaborate with other research groups on collaborative research efforts.

Outstanding UA benefits include health, dental, and vision
insurance plans; life insurance and disability programs; paid
vacation, sick leave, and holidays; UA/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for
the employee and qualified family members; retirement plans;
access to UA recreation and cultural activities; and more!

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Experiments:

• Design and conduct experiments in consultation with Principal Investigator.
• Analyze data for review and presentation to PI.
• Perform hormone assays such as Insulin ELISAs on human serum.
• Perform Cell Culture (PCR).
• Perform mitochondrial bioenergetics assays.
• Isolate mRNA/RNA and perform quantitative real-time PCR.
• Assist with Clinical Research studies by collecting biopsies from clinical research unit. Cataloging and maintaining track of biospecimens.
• Prepare muscle biopsies, skin biopsies, and other tissues or cells for mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. MS analysis includes homogenizing the muscle biopsies, performing protein assay, running SDS-PAGE, staining gel with Coomassie Blue Stain, cutting lanes of proteins into slices and cutting slices into 1mm squares, digesting with trypsin and zip cleaning to produce final sample for MS analysis.
• Immunoblot analysis of muscle biopsy, skin biopsy, and other tissue lysates.
• Perform and immunofluorescence microscopy, preparation of slides for microscopy.

Laboratory Coordination:

• Assure compliance and keep regulatory manuals up-to-date.
• Maintain laboratory equipment and ordering supplies.
• Present experiment data to Principal Investigator on a weekly basis.
• Assist in preparation of NIH grant proposals.
• Assist with publications and presentations.
• Order laboratory and experimental supplies as necessary.
• Attend weekly meetings with laboratory team to discuss progress, present data, develop new protocols, experiments, etc.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

• Ability to communicate effectively with different groups/individuals.
• Ability to work individually with minimum supervision, but also collaborate effectively in a team environment.
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information.
• Prior skills and knowledge in processing biospecimen samples.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent advanced learning attained through professional level experience required.
• Five (5) years of relevant work experience, or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

• Prior experience performing hormone assays such as Insulin ELISAs on human serum and cell culture, as well as isolate mRNA/RNA and perform quantitative real-time PCR.
• Prior experience working with redcap databases.