Research Specialist

massgeneralbrigham; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Mass General Brigham's Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging seeks a Research Specialist to join the LINC project under Dr. Anastasia Yendiki.

You will collect and analyze ex vivo MRI and optical microscopy images to map brain connections, contributing to publications and cutting-edge neuroimaging methods. The role offers opportunities to work with a multidisciplinary team across major institutions, engaging in rapid, collaborative research and developing new imaging technologies

Qualifications

• Master's degree in related field required.
• 3–5 years of experience in academic or laboratory research setting.

Responsibilities

• Investigates, creates, and develops new methods and technologies for research advancement.
• Contributes to scientific literature, reports, journals and presentations.
• Develops proposals and study plans, coordinating reviews and approvals.
• Supervises routine reports of laboratory studies and prepares summaries for grant applications and publications.
• Calculates, transcribes, analyzes, and prepares figures of data using statistical techniques.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Communication

Project management

Organizational skills

Data analysis

Education

Master's Degree Related Field of Study required

Tools

MRI

Optical microscopy

Job description

Site: The General Hospital Corporation

Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us and experience what it means to be part of Mass General Brigham.

Job Summary

Summary

A full-time Research Specialist position is available at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, under the supervision of Dr. Anastasia Yendiki. The Research Specialist will join the investigative team of the Large-Scale Imaging of Neural Circuits (LINC) project, and as such contribute to an unprecedented effort by the NIH BRAIN Initiative to produce first-ever maps of brain connections across scales (https://www.ninds.nih.gov/news-events/highlights-announcements/nih-brain-initiative-launches-projects-develop-innovative-technologies-map-brain-incredible-detail). The LINC project brings together a multi-disciplinary group of experts from 9 institutions (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Duke University, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, St. Jude's Research Hospital, University College London, University of Rochester, Weill Cornell Medicine) to develop novel imaging technologies and combine them with machine learning to produce detailed wiring diagrams of the brain (https://connects.mgh.harvard.edu). The Research Specialist will contribute to this effort by collecting and analyzing ex vivo MRI and optical microscopy images. The position offers the opportunity to participate in publications and to be part of a fast-paced research environment at the cutting edge of neuroimaging method development. Functioning independently and under the direction of the principal investigator, performs high-level, complex scientific research experiments. On a regular basis, contributes to scientific literature, reports, journals, and presentations, and investigates, creates, and develops new methods and technologies for research advancement.

Essential Functions

• Investigates, creates, and develops new methods and technologies for research advancement.
• Contributes to scientific literature, reports, journals and presentations.
• Develops proposals and study plans, and coordinates the institutional and external reviews of these proposals.
• Responsible for supervising routine reports of laboratory studies, particularly as stipulated in material transfer agreements or corporate-sponsored research agreements, to be distributed to industry scientific counterparts and academic collaborators.
• Reports on the progress of work at weekly laboratory seminars. Semi-autonomously writes up experimental work for grant applications, book chapters, and journal publications.
• Responsible for preparing summaries of laboratory studies for meeting presentations and publications.
• Calculates, transcribes, analyzes, and prepares figures of data using advanced statistical techniques.
• Semi-autonomously identifies, interprets, and applies findings and methods from scientific literature relevant to projects.

Qualifications

Education

Master's Degree Related Field of Study required

Can this role accept experience in lieu of a degree? No

Licenses and Credentials

Experience

Experience in an academic or laboratory research setting 3-5 years required

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Must be a problem solver willing to take the initiative and prioritize tasks, thereby ensuring the smooth and efficient conduct of several projects simultaneously.
• A high degree of computer literacy in order to use various spreadsheet, database, accounting and word processing programs to assist in administrative, grant proposal preparation, and research reporting activities.
• Excellent organizational skills in order to formulate, implement, and monitor a number of interrelated tasks.
• Ability to exercise discretion and good judgment in handling of sensitive and confidential information.
• Ability to work under deadline pressure and prioritize work from several sources.
• Excellent interpersonal skills for internal and external communications.

Additional Job Details (if applicable)

Role specific duties:

• Develop tissue processing and data acquisition protocols for MRI and/or optical microscopy
• Plan, monitor, and revise data acquisition schedules to meet the milestones of the project, in close coordination with the Principal Investigator
• Handle and prepare post mortem brain samples for imaging
• Perform and troubleshoot MRI and/or optical microscopy scans of post mortem brain samples
• Monitor the performance of imaging equipment and communicate with manufacturers as needed to schedule maintenance
• Write, test, and troubleshoot comp