School of Medicine

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LAB RESEARCH ANALYST I

Yeh Lab – Duke Human Vaccine Institute

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) continues to lead cutting-edge vaccine research against infectious diseases that impact global health. Basic science discoveries made using a variety of human and pathogen-derived proteins, designed, expressed and purified by a collaborative DHVI team have contributed to the identification of vaccine and therapeutic candidates currently being produced in Good Manufacturing Practice facilities for early phase clinical trials. Our lab will be studying the germinal center and antibody-forming responses following immunization and provide feedback to the design and selection of candidate vaccine immunogens.  

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Flow Cytometry and Single B Cell Isolation: 
  • Enrich B cells from human, macaque, and mouse samples. 
  • Perform flow cytometry-based single B cell isolation and culture.
  • Design and execute flow cytometry data analysis with FlowJo and Prism GraphPad. 
• Immunoassays: 
  • Conduct ELISA and bead-based multiplexed immunoassays. 
  • Conduct immunofluorescence staining and microscopic analysis. 
• Antibody Repertoire Studies: 
  • Perform PCR isolation of antibody genes from single sorted or bulk cultured B cells, and prepare samples for NGS library Prep. 
  • Conduct NGS sequence analysis for antibody repertoire studies.  
  • Manage recombinant antibody production and purification. 
• Laboratory Safety and Compliance: 
  • Understand and comply with all safety standards and procedures to ensure a safe working environment for all laboratory staff. 
  • Adhere to all standard operating procedures and protocols. 
  • Maintain thorough and reliable archiving of experiments. 
• Laboratory Maintenance and Supply Management: 
  • Collaborate with Lab manager to keep lab equipment, chemicals, reagents, and supplies in excellent order. 
  • Track work progress and compliantly order materials and reagents associated with numerous projects under multiple grants. 
• Skill Development and Collaboration: 
  • Learn or develop new techniques with colleagues together. 
  • Review primary data with the supervisor on a weekly basis. 
  • Collaborate with other staff and perform additional duties as requested by the Principal Investigator or senior lab staff. 

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AT THIS LEVEL

• Education/Training: Work requires a bachelor's degree in botany, biology, zoology, psychology or other directly related scientific field.
• Experience: Work requires two years of research experience. A related master's degree may offset required years of experience on a 1:1 basis, e.g., a two-year master's degree in lieu of two years of experience.OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE.

Skill Requirements 

• Cell line and primary cell culture experience. 
• ELISA or bead-based immunoassays. 
• Nucleic acid extraction, RT-PCR, PCR, Real-time qPCR, and agarose gel electrophoresis. 
• Cell isolation using density gradient centrifugation, FACS and/or MACS-based methods. 
• Team oriented and able to work in a highly collaborative and interactive work environment to complete complex tasks.
• Able to manage multiple and rapidly changing priorities and can quickly learn new skills.
• Detail-oriented and well organized.

PREFERENCES

• Flow cytometer operation, surface/intracellular marker staining and flow data analysis with FlowJo software.
• Mouse handling, tracking, sexing, anesthesia, blood withdraw, injection (tail vein 

intravenous, intraperitoneal, footpad and subcutaneous), and dissection.

Minimum Qualifications

Education

Work requires a bachelor's degree in botany, biology, zoology, psychology or other directly related scientific field.

Experience

Work requires two years of research experience. A related master's OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE degree may offset required years of experience on a 1:1 basis, e.g., a two year master's degree in lieu of two years of experience.

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