Technical Research Assistant I

Brigham and Women's Hospital; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 60,174,000 - 83,097,000; Full time

Job summary

The Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is recruiting an early-career Technical Research Assistant I to support a multidisciplinary program focused on rare brain tumors. You will identify and validate therapeutically actionable cell-surface proteins, with emphasis on ADC targets, using advanced tissue-imaging and spatial technologies.

You will work with CyCIF, ORION, IHC/IF, and spatial transcriptomics, collaborating with Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber, to map targets in patient tissues

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in biology, biochemistry, biomedical engineering, or a related field.
• Demonstrated interest in biomedical research, cancer biology, molecular measurement, tissue imaging, or quantitative analysis.
• Prior lab experience, particularly involving microscopy, immunofluorescence, molecular or biochemical assays, or quantitative data analysis.

Responsibilities

• Develop a spatial molecular atlas of therapeutic targets across brain tumors by generating and analyzing multiplexed tissue-imaging data.
• Perform multiplexed tissue-imaging experiments (CyCIF, ORION, IF/IHC) to quantify cell-surface targets.
• Develop and qualify antibodies against targets, compare clones and optimize staining for specificity and signal.
• Design multiplex antibody panels with targets and tumor markers.
• Prepare and analyze FFPE tissues, TMAs, and patient-derived models with scarce samples.
• Quantify whole-slide images; QC, single-cell segmentation, target expression, spatial patterns.
• Integrate protein imaging with spatial transcriptomics to prioritize targets.
• Support studies comparing patient tumors with derived cell lines and xenografts.
• Help develop standardized ORION imaging assays for future trials.
• Maintain detailed experimental records and quality-control datasets.
• Troubleshoot and optimize protocols and contribute ideas for improvements.
• Prepare figures and datasets for presentations and manuscripts.
• Present work at lab meetings and discuss results and next steps.

Skills

Immunofluorescence

Microscopy

Quantitative data analysis

Image analysis

Lab protocol optimization

Education

Bachelor's degree in biology or related field

Tools

ImageJ/Fiji

Python

R

MATLAB

Job description

Site: The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc.

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.

Job Summary

Join the Santagata Lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) as a Technical Research Assistant I working on a multidisciplinary program to develop new targeted therapies for rare pediatric and adult brain tumors.

We are seeking a talented and highly motivated individual to help identify and validate therapeutically actionable cell-surface proteins in rare brain cancers, with particular emphasis on targets for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and other emerging targeted therapies.

The position is supported by a Department of Defense research program focused on overcoming the major challenges posed by rare brain tumors: limited tissue availability, biological heterogeneity, and the lack of effective targeted treatments.

The successful candidate will work with advanced tissue-imaging and spatial molecular technologies to quantitatively characterize therapeutic targets in patient tumor specimens and patient-derived models. Major approaches include cyclic immunofluorescence (CyCIF), ORION whole-slide multiplexed imaging, conventional immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence, and integration with spatial transcriptomic data.

The research program spans rare pediatric and adult brain tumors, including ependymoma, craniopharyngioma, atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor, pediatric high-grade glioma, rare meningiomas, embryonal tumors, and other molecularly defined tumors. A major goal is to determine whether drugs developed for more common cancers can be repurposed for rare brain tumors based on quantitative measurement of therapeutic target expression.

You will be based in Dr. Sandro Santagata's laboratory at BWH and work closely with investigators at Harvard Medical School's Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Dana‑Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, and collaborating laboratories. The project brings together neuropathologists, cancer biologists, chemists, imaging scientists, computational biologists, and neuro‑oncologists.

This is an excellent opportunity for an early-career scientist interested in translational cancer research, molecular imaging, biological chemistry, quantitative pathology, and therapeutic development. The position provides extensive hands‑on experience with high‑dimensional tissue imaging, antibody qualification, assay development, image analysis, and integration of molecular and morphologic data from human tumors.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop a spatial molecular atlas of therapeutic targets in rare pediatric and adult brain tumors by generating, organizing, and quantitatively analyzing multiplexed tissue‑imaging data across tumor types, cases, and histologic regions.
• Perform multiplexed tissue‑imaging experiments using CyCIF, ORION, immunofluorescence, and related methods to quantitatively characterize cell‑surface therapeutic targets in rare pediatric and adult brain tumors.
• Develop and qualify antibodies against therapeutic targets, including established and emerging ADC targets. Compare antibody clones and optimize staining conditions with attention to specificity, cellular localization, signal‑to‑background ratio, dynamic range, and reproducibility.
• Design and optimize multiplex antibody panels incorporating therapeutic targets together with tumor‑lineage, proliferation, immune, vascular, and cell‑state markers.
• Prepare and analyze human FFPE tissue specimens, tissue microarrays, and patient‑derived tumor models while using tissue‑sparing experimental strategies appropriate for scarce clinical samples.
• Perform quantitative analysis of whole‑slide multiplexed images, including image quality control, single‑cell segmentation and quantification, evaluation of target‑expression heterogeneity, and visualization of spatial patterns.
• Integrate protein‑imaging results with complementary molecular datasets, including spatial transcriptomic data, to identify and prioritize candidate therapeutic targets.
• Assist with studies comparing patient tumors with patient‑derived cell lines and xenograft models to identify models that preserve clinically relevant therapeutic‑target expression.
• Support development of standardized ORION multiplexed imaging assays designed to measure multiple therapeutic targets from a single tissue section and facilitate future clinical‑trial and diagnostic applications.
• Maintain detailed experimental records and organized research datasets, including antibody‑validation results, imaging experiments, sample metadata, and quality‑control information.
• Troubleshoot and optimize experimental protocols and contribute ideas for improving assay performance, reproducibility, throughput, and tissue utilization.
• Prepare figures and datasets and contribute to scientific presentations, manuscripts, and collaborative project reports.
• Present work at laboratory and multidisciplinary project meetings and participate actively in discussions of experimental results and next steps.
• Support routine laboratory activities, including reagent preparation, ordering, equipment maintenance, sample organization, and adherence to laboratory safety procedures.
• Work collaboratively with scientists, physicians, computational researchers, and other research staff across BWH, HMS, Dana‑Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, and collaborating institutions.

Additional Job Details (if applicable)

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in biology, biochemistry, biological chemistry, chemical biology, biomedical engineering, biophysics, computational biology, bioinformatics, or a related biomedical or quantitative field.
• Demonstrated interest in biomedical research, cancer biology, molecular measurement, tissue imaging, or quantitative analysis of biological data.
• Prior laboratory research experience, particularly involving microscopy, immunofluorescence, molecular or biochemical assays, or quantitative data analysis, is preferred.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, including the ability to work with complex sample sets and contribute to development of well‑annotated research datasets.
• Willingness to commit to approximately two years in the position and grow within a collaborative, multidisciplinary research environment is strongly preferred.

Skills/Abilities/Competencies Required

• Ability to perform reproducible experiments and maintain well‑organized experimental records.
• Experience with or strong interest in immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, microscopy, protein biochemistry, molecular biology, or related experimental methods.
• Understanding of basic protein biochemistry and molecular interactions, including antibody‑antigen binding, is desirable.
• Interest in quantitative analysis of biological data and willingness to learn image‑analysis and computational tools.
• Familiarity with ImageJ/Fiji, Python, R, MATLAB, or related quantitative tools is desirable but not required.
• Ability to learn and troubleshoot technically sophisticated experimental workflows.
• Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary research environment.
• Intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for connecting experimental observations with questions in cancer biology and therapeutic development.

Remote Type

Onsite

Work Location

60 Fenwood Road

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

Employee Type

Regular

Work Shift

Day (United States of America)

Pay Range

$21.00 - $29.01/Hourly

Grade

5

At Mass General Brigham, we believe in recognizing and rewarding the unique value each team member brings to our organization. Our approach to determining base pay is comprehensive, and any offer extended will take into account your skills, relevant experience if applicable, education, certifications and other essential factors. The base pay information provided offers an estimate based on the minimum job qualifications; however, it does not encompass all elements contributing to your total compensation package. In addition to competitive base pay, we offer comprehensive benefits, career advancement opportunities, differentials, premiums and bonuses as applicable and recognition programs designed to celebrate your contributions and support your professional growth.

EEO Statement

2200 The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, military service, genetic information, and/or other status protected under law. We will ensure that all individuals with a disability are provided a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. To ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Veteran's Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact Human Resources at (857)-282-7642.

At Mass General Brigham, our competency framework defines what effective leadership "looks like" by specifying which behaviors are most critical for successful performance at each job level. The framework is comprised of ten competencies (half People‑Focused, half Performance‑Focused) and are defined by observable and measurable skills and behaviors that contribute to workplace effectiveness and career success. These competencies are used to evaluate performance, make hiring decisions, identify development needs, mobilize employees across our system, and establish a strong talent pipeline.