"Post-Doctoral"

Job Details

Benefits: All VCU employee types are eligible for a wide array of benefits to support you during your employment at VCU. Consult the benefits website for information on benefits eligibility according to employee type.

Unit: School Of Medicine MBU

Department: Anatomy

Duties & Responsibilities:

1. Assist with and conduct pig surgical and behavioral procedures
   • Conduct the surgical preparation, traumatic brain injury induction, and physiological monitoring of pigs and rats
   • Conduct behavioral assessments in pigs and rats
   • Participate in the post-injury recovery monitoring and assessment of pigs and rats
2. Quantitative histological, molecular, and genetic analysis of pig, rat, and human post-mortem tissue
   • Prepare, process, and analyze pig, rat, and human tissue microscopic samples
   • Prepare, process, and analyze pig and rat brain for molecular assessments, including western blotting and ELISAs
   • Work with the PI and various collaborators to prepare, process, and analyze RNA sequencing data from pigs, rats, and humans
3. Quantitative analysis of pig and rat behavior
   • Participate in running, analyzing, and train undergraduates to analyze recorded behavioral assessments
4. Assisting in training students in the laboratory
   • Mentoring trainees with technical issues involved in animal handling, surgery, behavioral tasks, histochemistry, western blotting, and other quantitative assessments used in the lab
   • Properly demonstrating safe lab techniques and best practices
   • Engaging with trainees about proper research conduct, grant and/or manuscript writing, and other “soft” skills necessary for successful research
5. Assist with laboratory maintenance and management
   • Assist the PI and Senior lab tech with day-to-day maintenance and workflow of the lab
   • Assist the PI and Senior lab tech with verifying that the laboratory and surgical spaces remain clean and functional
   • Help the PI Senior lab tech update and implement best practices for data and protocol management

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent
• Demonstrated experience working in a basic or translational research laboratory
• Willingness to work with pig and rat models of brain injury as well as human postmortem tissue
• Demonstrated ability to work in and foster an environment of respect, professionalism and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from all backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at VCU

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience working in a translational or basic research lab work a focus on traumatic brain or spinal cord injury
• Demonstrated experience working with microglial and astrocyte assessments in histological samples
• Demonstrated experience with live animal surgery
• Demonstrated experience training students in wet lab research
• Demonstrated bioinformatics experience, specifically in regard to single-nucleus RNA sequencing
• Demonstrated ability to help guide a project independently

Salary Range: Commensurate Starting at $62,232

FLSA Exemption Status: Exempt

Hours per Week: 40

ORP Eligible: Yes

Flexible Work Arrangement: Fully Onsite

Rank: Non Faculty

Contact Information:

Contact Email: SOMHR@vcuhealth.org