Research Assistant II

About the role

Research Assistant III | Human Engineered Heart Tissue Platform, Cardioverse (ARPA-H)

Hinson Lab

Farmington, CT

The Hinson lab at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine and UConn Health is seeking a motivated, detail-oriented Research Assistant III to join our team on the ARPA-H Cardioverse program. Cardioverse aims to build digital twins of the human heart that predict drug safety and efficacy. Our role is to generate large-scale, high-quality experimental data from human engineered heart tissues (EHTs) made from iPSC lines that capture human genetic diversity. These data will train and validate predictive computational models.

You will work in a collaborative, milestone-driven team that combines stem cell biology, tissue engineering, cardiac physiology, genome editing, and multi-omics.

Responsibilities

• Culture, differentiate, and quality-control iPSC lines from genetically diverse donors, and generate iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) at scale.
• Fabricate 3D EHTs and microtissues in multiwell formats, following standardized protocols to ensure reproducibility across lines, batches, and operators.
• Perform functional assays on EHTs, including contractile force, kinetics, and calcium handling, and test compounds in dose-response studies for drug safety and efficacy.
• Prepare samples for multi-omic profiling (for example, RNA-seq and single-cell assays) and imaging.
• Document experiments in detail, including metadata, line identifiers, and batch information, and follow data management practices that support computational modeling.
• Process and organize data, apply quality-control criteria, and work closely with computational collaborators who build the digital twin models.
• Support genome editing of iPSC lines and, as needed, in vivo mouse studies that validate findings from the human tissue platform.
• Maintain laboratory supplies, equipment, and protocols, and help train new lab members.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in biology, biomedical science, bioengineering, or a related field with [3+] years of relevant laboratory experience, or a Master's degree with [1+] years.
• Hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture; iPSC culture and differentiation experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with cardiomyocytes, tissue engineering, or physiological assays such as contractility or calcium imaging is a plus.
• Comfort with high-throughput, multiwell workflows and meticulous record keeping. Experience with pharmacology or compound screening is a plus.
• Basic data analysis skills (Excel, Prism; R or Python a plus).
• Strong organizational and communication skills, and the ability to work independently and in a team with tight timelines and defined deliverables.

Pay Range

$42,751 - $71,575, pay is determined by years of experience