Research Lab Technician in Human Health and Microbiome

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Job Summary

The Ismagilov Lab at Caltech is hiring a full-time Research Lab Technician for a 2-year term position. Reporting to Professor Rustem Ismagilov, the successful candidate will contribute to the lab's ambitious projects and collaborations focused on human health. Examples include: discovering within human tissues the bacteria, fungi, and viruses (and corresponding genes and pathways) responsible for health and disease; developing novel diagnostic approaches; investigating the microbial origins of human diseases; developing tools that improve biological AI models by orders of magnitude; and developing closed-loop systems that combine robotics and AI for rapid autonomous experimentation. Additional details about the lab can be found at http://ismagilovlab.caltech.edu/. The selected candidate will receive mentorship and structured training in lab-specific protocols, electronic lab notebooks, biosafety, sample-tracking, qPCR/ddPCR, sequencing-library quality control, liquid-handler automation, and data analysis.

Essential Job Duties

• Support graduate students, postdocs, and research staff in their projects. The Technician will be a valued member of project teams and, after training, will take ownership of specific workflows/processes.
• Perform exceptionally high-quality experiments using established protocols; with training, contribute to experimental design and troubleshooting.
• Perform automated DNA and RNA extractions from many different sample types, including clinical samples (e.g., saliva, swabs, urine, blood, biopsies).
• Perform nucleic-acid amplification analyses using standard techniques such as qPCR, ddPCR, RT-qPCR, and RT-ddPCR.
• Assist with Illumina and Nanopore sequencing library preparations for 16S rRNA gene, shotgun metagenomic sequencing, and RNA sequencing.
• Perform crucial sequencing-library quality-control steps.
• Perform basic microbiology techniques such as bacterial culture, making media, and handling glycerol stocks with aseptic techniques.
• Analyze raw data and generate figures.
• Assist with scripting and validating protocols for automated liquid handlers.
• Maintain the lab's excellent standards for biosafety and chemical safety.
• Follow lab procedures for maintaining an accurate, complete, and detailed electronic lab notebook.
• Maintain the organization of lab workspaces and maintain stocks of lab supplies.
• A highly motivated and qualified candidate may additionally develop independent aspects of ongoing projects, while continuing to provide research support to the lab.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in science with an educational emphasis in chemistry, biology, microbiology, or a related field by the start date.
• Strong drive to learn and make a positive impact on the lab and the lab's mission.
• Strong organizational, time-management, and project-management skills.
• Hands-on lab experience (beyond academic coursework) in microbiology, molecular biology, and/or biochemistry, such as undergraduate research, internships, or equivalent experience.
• Highly detail-oriented; must have prior experience performing complex experiments, using standard laboratory techniques, and generating rigorous, reproducible data that others can rely on.
• Demonstrated ability to learn to perform highly technical workflows in a laboratory setting.
• Must be able to use sound judgment to handle a variety of tasks simultaneously and to shift priorities, as well as effectively solve problems.
• Must be able to work independently as well as part of a collaborative team in a dynamic, fast-paced environment in which multiple active projects are running in parallel.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to interact professionally and productively with faculty, staff, students, and collaborators.
• Ambition to learn how to do research at an increasingly higher level, including how to design high-quality experiments, interpret results, and answer scientific questions.
• Deep curiosity, reliability, and desire for mentorship/training.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ambition to undertake rigorous research training before entering medical or graduate school or a similar high-performance, high-impact environment in industry or academia.
• Prior experience working at BSL-2.
• Prior experience performing qPCR and nucleic-acid extractions.
• Prior experience tracking and/or handling large numbers of samples in parallel.
• Prior experience handling and processing 96-sample assays, such as 96-well PCR plates or 96-well screening assays.
• Interest in liquid-handler automation of wet-lab workflows and closed-loop automation systems.
• Co-authorship on a scientific publication or other substantial contribution to a research project.
• Prior experience or undergraduate-level coursework with a basic programming language for data analysis (Python, MATLAB, R).

Required Documents

• Resume (describe relevant experiences and accomplishments).
• Cover letter with a) an explicit explanation of your alignment with the lab's mission; b) a concise example of how you have ensured accuracy, reproducibility, and careful documentation in your prior research; c) an explanation of the level of technical mastery of your top three experimental skills most relevant to this position.