Required Qualifications:

• PhD in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, or related field
• 0-2 years post-graduate laboratory experience
• PhD candidates close to graduation date are encouraged to apply
• Excellent attention to detail and intellectual curiosity, ability to conduct multiple concurrent experiments
• Willingness and ability to learn new skills
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with mouse studies, particularly in vivo motor functional assays and post-mortem tissue collections
• Experience with tissue culture, specifically myoblast culture
• Experience with western blot and immunofluorescence techniques

The position is in the laboratory of Peter B. Kang in the Neurology Department at the University of Minnesota. We study the genomics of muscular dystrophy and the role of the Notch pathway in muscle disease. The new position will focus on the latter project, focusing on cellular and animal studies of how Notch pathway dysfunction can cause muscle disease and how certain components of the Notch pathway can serve as therapeutic targets. The researcher will be encouraged to become more independent over time and gain greater autonomy with regard to experimental design.

Job Duties/Responsibilities:

Responsibilities

• Maintain mouse colonies relevant to current scientific projects
• Conduct functional motor assays on mice
• Dissect skeletal muscles and other tissues from mice post-mortem
• Conduct experiments on myoblasts and muscle stem cells isolated from mouse skeletal muscle
• Modify cells under study with recombinant DNA techniques
• Complete protein purification and assessment related activities, RNA and DNA isolation related activities, and perform real-time PCR related activities
• Participate in laboratory meetings, presenting in rotation with other laboratory members
• Work with and train new laboratory members on general skills and specific techniques
• Keep up with appropriate literature
• Maintain detailed and well-organized records of daily experiments
• Prepare manuscripts for publication

Activities will fall within the following areas with estimated effort distribution:

Research Activities: 80%

• Assist in the planning of research activities, in conjunction with the Principal Investigator, to ensure adherence to the project/study timeline(s).
• Design laboratory experiments; oversee their execution; and review, approve, or interpret results
• Independently develop methods and techniques to troubleshoot errors and adjust experimental designs as necessary based on experimental data analysis
• Collaborate with researchers and other professionals to conduct appropriate analyses, analyze problems, determine strategies, or recommend solutions.
• Develop new methods to study the mechanisms of biological processes; develop guidelines for procedures and incorporate new diagnostic procedures
• Search scientific literature to select and modify methods and procedures most appropriate for research goals
• Maintain accurate laboratory records that record research methods, procedures, and results.

Laboratory Management/Regulatory Compliance: 5%

• Help to ensure regulatory compliance for lab activities, including submission and maintenance of relevant IACUC protocols.
• Order and reconcile of laboratory supplies in advance of planned experiments.
• Coordinate lab activities/schedule to achieve research objectives.
• Maintaining, update and follow laboratory Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) as needed to be in compliance with UMN Environmental Health & Safety office.

Scholarly/Administrative Work: 15%

• Conduct independent data analysis and present findings/outcomes to the Principal Investigator
• Draft and/or provide input for technical reports, research papers, scholarly articles, and abstracts
• Preparation of figures for presentations, publications, or grants.
• Assist in preparation of grant proposals and progress reports to funding agencies.