Research Assistant II - Neuroscience

Baylor College of Medicine; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 52,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

Baylor College of Medicine in Houston is seeking a motivated team member to support lab operations and experimental work. This role combines lab management (orders, inventory, equipment upkeep) with hands-on molecular biology and cell culture tasks, requiring exceptional organization and teamwork.

The position involves processing orders, maintaining infrastructure, and training staff as needed, with a focus on documentation and compliance in a collaborative research environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a Basic Science or related field.
• Three years of relevant laboratory experience.
• Molecular cloning and cell culture experience preferred.
• Strong documentation and organization skills.

Responsibilities

• Receive and process orders.
• Maintain lab inventory and rebalance stock across floors.
• Prepare and maintain common reagents.
• Schedule lab group and subgroup meetings, reserve rooms.
• Maintain shared lab infrastructure and waste disposal.
• Operate a liquid handler for automating lab experiments (e.g. transfections).
• Culture mammalian cells, including thawing, passaging, transfecting, and freezing cells.
• Conduct molecular cloning, including assembling plasmids via In-Fusion and constructing mutagenesis libraries.
• Acquire images by widefield fluorescence microscopy.
• Plan, direct and conduct research experiments; evaluate and analyze data.
• May conduct literature searches and summarize information for studies.
• Document results and reports to principal investigators.
• May train and orient less experienced staff.
• Oversee maintenance of lab equipment and environment.

Skills

Lab management

Organizational skills

Documentation

Teamwork

Education

Bachelor's degree in Basic Science or related field

Master's degree in basic science or related field

Tools

Liquid handler

Job description

Summary The St-Pierre lab develops and applies new tools to monitor and interrogate brain activity. We seek a motivated team member to support both lab-wide productivity and specific projects. This position involves a mixture of lab management (including ordering, managing the inventory, and keeping equipment and infrastructure in optimal condition) and experimental work (molecular cloning, mammalian cell culture, and/or fluorescence imaging). Successful candidates should be exceptionally well organized, enjoy managing several tasks in parallel, and display effective documentation and teamwork skills.

Job Duties

• Receive and process orders.
• Maintain lab inventory (molecular biology supplies, cell culture supplies, plasticware, general lab stock) and rebalance stock across floors as needed.
• Prepare and maintain common reagents.
• Schedule lab group and subgroup meetings, including reserving meeting rooms.
• Maintain shared lab infrastructure (cold room, freezers, water levels in incubators/water baths, autoclaving, biohazard and hazardous waste disposal).
• Operate a liquid handler for automating lab experiments (e.g. transfections).
• Culture mammalian cells, including thawing, passaging, transfecting, and freezing cells.
• Conduct molecular cloning, including assembling new plasmids via In-Fusion assembly and constructing mutagenesis libraries.
• Acquire images by widefield fluorescence microscopy.
• Plans, directs and conducts research experiments.
• Evaluates and analyzes data.
• May conduct literature searches and summarize information in an appropriate format for a particular study.
• Documents results of experiments and reports to principal investigators.
• May train and orient less experienced research staff.
• Performs other job related duties as assigned
• Oversees the maintenance of lab equipment and environment.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a Basic Science or a related field.
• Three years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in basic science or a related field.
• Molecular cloning and cell culture experience.

Work Authorization Requirement

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment.

Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.