Research Associate 1, SOM (A)

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The department of Medicine has an exciting opportunity for a full-time Research Associate 1 to work on the UHealth campus. The Research Associate 1 supports research activities under the direction of a principle investigator, program director or designee of the principle investigator or program director.

Core Responsibilities

• Maintains daily operations and performs procedures related to new and on-going research projects.
• Assists with ordering, purchasing, and maintenance of all required reagents and supplies for laboratory activities, and monitors and maintains inventory of supplies and stocks.
• Assists with the maintenance of institutional biosafety and animal care protocols, laboratory safety records, and standard operating procedures.
• Performs and assists other research staff with standard laboratory techniques.
• Develops, adapts, and implements new laboratory procedures.
• Records, organizes, and writes up experimental results for submission of manuscripts and for scientific presentations.
• Keeps abreast of latest literature in the field and searches for references to technical problems.
• Maintains current knowledge of the methods and techniques related to the specific field of research.
• Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures and safeguards University assets.

Department Specific Functions

• Independently design, perform, and troubleshoot experiments investigating mechanisms of pulmonary inflammation, immune regulation, tissue repair, and resolution biology.
• Perform murine models of lung injury and disease, including bacterial pneumonia, acute lung injury, ARDS, asthma, lung cancer, environmental exposure models, and sleep-related inflammatory models.
• Conduct animal procedures including intratracheal instillation, intranasal administration, bronchoalveolar lavage, tissue harvesting, blood collection, and survival studies.
• Isolate and characterize immune cell populations from lung, lymphoid tissues, blood, and bronchoalveolar lavage specimens.
• Design, optimize, and execute high-parameter spectral flow cytometry panels (25-40 colors) for comprehensive immune phenotyping.
• Perform cell sorting and downstream molecular analyses of macrophages, T regulatory cells, monocytes, neutrophils, dendritic cells, and other immune populations.
• Execute molecular biology techniques including RNA isolation, qPCR, bulk RNA sequencing sample preparation, single-cell RNA sequencing workflows, TCR sequencing, and gene expression analyses.
• Conduct cell culture experiments involving primary macrophages, T lymphocytes, epithelial cells, endothelial cells, and immortalized cell lines.
• Perform advanced immunologic assays including phagocytosis, cytokine profiling, proliferation assays, intracellular signaling studies, and functional immune cell characterization.
• Assist with spatial transcriptomics, confocal microscopy, immunofluorescence imaging, and image analysis.
• Maintain breeding colonies and perform genotyping of transgenic and conditional knockout mouse models.
• Analyze experimental data using FlowJo, Prism, R, and other bioinformatic platforms.
• Maintain detailed laboratory records, experimental databases, standard operating procedures, and quality-control documentation.
• Prepare figures, datasets, protocols, abstracts, manuscripts, and grant-related materials for publication and presentation.
• Train and supervise students, technicians, fellows, and research staff in laboratory techniques and animal procedures.
• Coordinate laboratory operations including inventory management, equipment maintenance, biosafety compliance, IACUC protocols, and reagent procurement.
• Collaborate with investigators, core facilities, and external research partners to support multidisciplinary translational research projects.

Additional information

This list of duties and responsibilities is not intended to be all-inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties or responsibilities as necessary.

Core Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in relevant field required.
• No relevant experience required.
• Master's degree in Immunology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biomedical Sciences, or related field preferred.
• AALAS certification preferred.
• Training and certification in animal handling and biosafety procedures are preferred.
• Flow cytometry and cell sorting experience strongly preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes

• Learning Agility: Ability to learn new procedures, technologies, and protocols, and adapt to changing priorities and work demands.
• Teamwork: Ability to work collaboratively with others and contribute to a team environment.
• Technical Proficiency: Skilled in using office software, technology, and relevant computer applications.
• Communication: Strong and clear written and verbal communication skills for interacting with colleagues and stakeholders.

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Pay and benefits

The University of Miami offers competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, tuition remission and more.

UHealth-University of Miami Health System, South Florida's only university-based health system, provides leading-edge patient care powered by the ground breaking research and medical education at the Miller School of Medicine. As an academic medical center, we are proud to serve South Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean. Our physicians represent more than 100 specialties and sub-specialties, and have more than one million patient encounters each year. Our tradition of excellence has earned worldwide recognition for outstanding teaching, research and patient care. We're the challenge you've been looking for.

Job Status: Full time

Employee Type: Staff