Research Technician II - Anesthesiology

Scheduled Hours

40

Position Summary

The Creed lab in the Department of Anesthesiology seeks a Research Technician to join our team!

Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the population, and is characterized by affective symptoms (anhedonia, apathy and depressed mood) that negatively impact pain management. Research in our lab seeks to understand the basis for these affective symptoms. We focus on synaptic plasticity within genetically-defined neural circuits in the basal ganglia and thalamocortical networks.

We combine patch clamp and in vivo electrophysiology, RNA-sequencing, biophysical modeling of neurons and computational models of behavior to understand how chronic pain and opioid analgesics alters plasticity in neural circuits, and how changes in these neural circuits drive negative affect and changes in cognition. We seek to translate (and back translate!) results of our findings. Our ultimate goal is to use these insights to develop novel neuromodulation therapies to treat affective and cognitive symptoms of chronic pain disorders.

The successful candidate will assist with behavioral and physiology experiments across multiple collaborative projects in the lab, and assist with animal colony management.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

• Assists with behavioral and physiological experiments and assays, including collection of data, preparation of solutions and set-up and maintenance of equipment.
• Performs data entry and maintains data files on research and will assist graduate students and post-docs with data analysis.
• Will work with senior graduate students and post-docs to learn behavior experiments, and computer analysis of behavioral experiments.
• Will perform tissue sample preparation, histology and microscopy analysis.
• Complies with established safety procedures and maintains required documentation on laboratory and specimen conditions.
• Ensures lab conditions and equipment are properly cleaned and maintained in accordance with established procedures.
• Assists with general lab maintenance and animal colony management under the direction of senior lab staff.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Working Conditions:

• This position works in a laboratory environment with potential exposure to biological and chemical hazards.
• The individual must be physically able to wear protective equipment and to provide standard care to research animals.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor’s degree or combination of education and/or experience may substitute for minimum education.

Certifications/Professional Licenses:

No specific certification/professional license is required for this position.

Work Experience:

No specific work experience is required for this position.

Skills:

Not Applicable

Driver's License:

A driver's license is not required for this position.

More About This Job

The ideal candidate will have up to one year of experience in a laboratory setting.

Preferred Qualifications

Skills:

Communication, Detailed Reports, Laboratory Instrumentation, Laboratory Research, Software Program, Working Independently

Grade

R06-H

Salary Range

$16.92 - $26.44 / HourlyThe salary range reflects base salaries paid for positions in a given job grade across the University. Individual rates within the range will be determined by factors including one's qualifications and performance, equity with others in the department, market rates for positions within the same grade and department budget.