Job Overview

As one of the oldest medical schools in the country, the UC College of Medicine has a reputation for training best-in-class health care professionals and developing cutting-edge procedures and research that improve the health and clinical care of patients.

The University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, is seeking to hire a full-time Research Assistant. This individual will assist with the coordination of laboratory projects or research studies in a particular discipline, makes independent contributions to projects and studies based on professional training or functional experience. Classification and salary will be commensurate with experience.

The Steele lab focuses on the pancreatic tumor microenvironment. The Steele lab utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach to cancer biology, seamlessly integrating multi-omics with cell culture and advanced genetic mouse models. We are looking for a thoughtful, detail-oriented individual to work on some exciting new mouse models of pancreatic cancer. Work for this position will include but not be limited to animal breeding and colony maintenance, as well as experimentation with the models themselves. This includes but is not limited to orthotopic surgeries (implantation of tumor cells) and removal of the pancreas and other organs for analysis by single cell RNA sequencing, immunostaining and spatial transcriptomics, as well as other analyses.

Essential Functions

• Perform experiments and record data according to research protocols.
• Apply research principles for less complex assignments.
• Perform animal colony management, animal husbandry, and experimentation with animal models. Animal work will include but not be limited to activities such as setting up breeding pairs, weaning, collecting genotyping samples (ear punch or tail biopsy), tail vein injection, orthotopic surgeries, oral gavage, retro-orbital injection, intraperitoneal injections, and subcutaneous injections, etc.
• Perform in vitro (including running genotyping on mouse colony and cell culture assays with primary and established cell lines) and in vivo experiments and record data according to research protocols.
• Interpret data and assist in judging validity of data. Perform statistical and graphical analysis of data (R, Prism).
• Maintenance of organized and readable lab notebook, maintaining records of lab ordering, assistance with ordering supplies and animals’ strains.
• Maintenance of record keeping databases for all aspects of a research lab: animals, breeding pairs, antibodies, primers, probes, etc.
• This job description can be changed or updated at any time.

Required Education

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Four (4) years of relevant work experience and/or other specialized training can be used in lieu of education requirement.

Required Experience

Additional related work experience may be required depending on field or discipline.

Additional Qualifications Considered

Previous experience of 6 months or greater handling live animals (mice or rats) including activities such as setting up breeding pairs, weaning, collecting genotyping samples (ear punch or tail biopsy), tail vein injection, orthotopic surgeries, oral gavage, retro-orbital injection, intraperitoneal injections, and subcutaneous injections, etc.

Physical Requirements/Work Environment