Junior Specialist – Costello lab

University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 57,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

University of California, San Francisco invites applications for a Junior Specialist in the Costello lab to perform cell and molecular analyses on glioma cells and patient-derived tissues under supervision, reporting to Dr. Costello and the lab manager. You will present progress every two weeks at lab meetings.

The role involves tumor cell assays, RNA isolation, qPCR, protein work, immunology assays, and building 3D brain tumor models with Slicer, plus data analysis in R and inventory management.

Qualifications

• Baccalaureate degree in Neuroscience or Molecular and Cellular Biology.
• Proficiency in R and hands-on familiarity with Slicer 3D.
• Experience navigating a high performance compute cluster.
• Hands-on experience with basic cell culture and standard molecular biology techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to document data accurately and meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Perform cell and molecular analyses on glioma cells and patient-derived tissues under supervision.
• Conduct tumor cell assays including human cell culture, passaging, counting, and reagent handling.
• Perform RNA isolation, RT-qPCR, protein purification, and immunoblotting.
• Carry out immunology assays including in vitro T-cell sensitization and co-culture cytotoxicity tests.
• Construct 3D brain tumor models using Slicer and map to immune scores or gene expression with R.
• Maintain lab reagents/inventory and coordinate orders to the lab manager.

Skills

R

Slicer 3D

Cell culture

Molecular biology

HPC cluster

Education

Baccalaureate degree in Neuroscience or Molecular and Cellular Biology

Job description

Junior Specialist – Costello lab

Under direct supervision, perform cell and molecular analysis on glioma cells and patient-derived tissues, reporting to Dr. Costello and the lab manager. Every two weeks, report progress and data directly to Dr. Costello and Dr. Okada and present at lab meeting to report research findings and difficulties.

Position Description

Under direct supervision, perform cell and molecular analysis on glioma cells and patient-derived tissues, reporting to Dr. Costello and the lab manager. Every two weeks, report progress and data directly to Dr. Costello and Dr. Okada and present at lab meeting to report research findings and difficulties.

Perform tumor cell assays, including human cell culturing, passaging, differentiation, cell counting, centrifugation, transferring liquids and pipetting molecular reagents.

Conduct molecular biology tasks such as RNA isolation, reverse transcription, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, protein purification, and immunoblotting.

Perform specialized immunology assays, including in vitro T-cell sensitization, and co-culture cytotoxicity assays to validate anti-tumor activity, use specialized machine to read raw data such as conductivity or cell number, keep record of data and interpret them using designated software.

Construct 3D brain tumor models using Slicer to visualize brain, tumor and spatial biopsies. Implement custom R-based pipelines to map spatial biopsies to immune scores or gene expression.

Keeping record of lab reagents and equipment inventory and assign order to lab manager on BearBuy when there’s a shortage.

Required Qualifications

• Baccalaureate degree in Neuroscience or Molecular and Cellular Biology.
• Proficiency in the computer language R and hands‑on familiarly with Slicer 3D.
• Experience in navigating high performance compute cluster.
• Knowledge of hands‑on experience with basic cell culture and standard molecular biology techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to accurately document data in laboratory notebook, multi‑task and execute assays efficiently. Meet tight deadlines and meticulous to details.

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive prior undergraduate laboratory research experience specifically within a neuro‑oncology or neurological surgery laboratory settings.
• Prior specialized training or hands on experience with live cell monitoring, molecular assays and immunology assays.
• Experience with computational analysis of qPCR, xCelligence, and BCA data, data interpretation and plotting in R.
• Proven track record of research productivity, and high‑quality data generation, including co‑authorship on peer‑review publication(s).

See Table 24B for the salary range for this position. A reasonable estimate for this position is $57,000 – $60,700.

Document Requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - CV must clearly list current and/or pending qualifications (e.g. board eligibility/certification, medical licensure, etc.).
• Cover Letter (Optional)
• Statement of Research (Optional)
• Statement of Teaching (Optional)

Reference Requirements

• 3 required (contact information only)

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

UCSF is committed to welcoming and serving all people, honoring the dignity of every individual without preference or prejudice, in support of its public mission and in alignment with our PRIDE values and Principles of Community.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct.

• “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, or discrimination, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
• APM - 035: Affor

San Francisco, CA