Research Technician

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit:

Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education and research.

Patient care: We promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.

Education: We prepare tomorrow`s healthcare professionals and biomedical researchers from all backgrounds by facilitating learning within innovative and integrated curricula and team-oriented interprofessional education to ensure a highly skilled workforce.

Research: We develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers and resources. We provide infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration among disciplines throughout and beyond our university to support outstanding research. We foster programs in the areas of basic, translational, mechanistic and population research.

Position Summary:

This position will serve as a Research Technician within the Gene Therapy Center in UNC’s School of Medicine in the lab of Dr. Sara Powell. The Research Technician assists in the organization and completion of laboratory experiments involving bacteria, viral vectors, cell culture, and animal tissues. The technician will assist in data acquisition, data processing, statistical analysis, graphic presentation of data, and documentation of experiments. Additional responsibilities include preparing and disposing of reagents necessary for research, and maintaining lab inventory, including timely ordering of required supplies. The incumbent will be expected to conduct basic lab techniques from established protocols as well as to make minor modifications to procedures as required for the experiment.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements:

Demonstrated possession of the competencies necessary to perform the work.

Management Preferences:

• Prior experience with tissue and cell culture, animal (rodent) handling, or vector purification
• Prior experience with molecular techniques including polymerase chain reaction assays, cell culture transfection, qPCR assays, gel electrophoresis, enzymatic reactions for cloning, plasmid purification, or making solutions in the lab
• Prior experience with histology including tissue slicing or immunohistochemistry
• Prior experience with Prism graph pad generating data graphs or data statistics
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel

Special Physical/Mental Requirements:

Hand/finger agility in order to use a scientific pipette device.

Ability to move 15-20 pounds with or without accommodation.

Campus Security Authority Responsibilities:

Not Applicable.