Research Assistant II, Levi Lab, Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Trauma, and Wound Healing

WHY UT SOUTHWESTERN?
With over 75 years of excellence in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, UT Southwestern is committed to excellence, innovation, teamwork, and compassion. As a world-renowned medical and research center, we strive to provide the best possible care, resources, and benefits for our valued employees. Ranked as the number 1 hospital in Dallas-Fort Worth according to U.S. News & World Report, we invest in you with opportunities for career growth and development to align with your future goals. Our highly competitive benefits package offers healthcare, PTO and paid holidays, on-site childcare, wage, merit increases and so much more. We invite you to be a part of the UT Southwestern team where you’ll discover a culture of teamwork, professionalism, and a rewarding career! 

JOB SUMMARY
Works under general direction to either plan, coordinate, supervise, and participate in assigned research projects or perform more complex research assignments requiring considerable experience and thorough knowledge of techniques and practices related to particular field of medical or scientific research. 

Key Responsibilities

In Vivo Models and Animal Colony Management
•    Maintain breeding colonies, genotype transgenic and reporter mouse lines, track experimental cohorts, and maintain complete colony and procedure records.
•    Assist with and, after training and certification, perform mouse models relevant to the laboratory, including burn/tenotomy and other models of heterotopic ossification, tendon injury or overuse, digit amputation and regeneration, wound healing, and pharmacologic or genetic intervention studies.
•    Administer study agents, monitor animals, collect blood and tissues at defined time points, and perform post-procedure assessments in accordance with approved IACUC protocols.
•    Support functional phenotyping when required, including range-of-motion, gait, loading, pain-behavior, and tendon or musculoskeletal outcome assessments.

Tissue Processing, Histology, and Imaging
•    Harvest, fix, decalcify, embed, section, and stain musculoskeletal, skin, tendon, nerve, lymphatic, and wound tissues.
•    Perform histologic and immunostaining methods such as H&E, Masson’s trichrome, picrosirius red, Safranin O, TRAP, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and multiplex staining or RNAscope as projects require.
•    Acquire and analyze brightfield, fluorescence, and confocal microscopy images; quantify cell populations, vessel density, collagen organization, and marker colocalization using ImageJ/Fiji or related software.
•    Prepare specimens for micro-computed tomography and perform or coordinate quantitative analysis of heterotopic bone, bone regeneration, and skeletal morphology.

Cellular and Molecular Assays
•    Isolate cells from blood, bone marrow, skin, tendon, and injury-site tissues; generate single-cell suspensions; perform multicolor flow cytometry and assist with fluorescence-activated cell sorting.
•    Culture primary cells, including mesenchymal or skeletal progenitor cells, keratinocytes, macrophage or dendritic-cell populations, and other project-specific cell types; perform migration, differentiation, co-culture, and conditioned-media assays.
•    Perform RNA and protein extraction, quantitative RT-PCR, ELISA or multiplex cytokine assays, western blotting, and related molecular assays.
•    Prepare high-quality samples and associated metadata for bulk RNA sequencing, single-cell RNA sequencing, lipidomics, metabolomics, and other core-facility analyses; assist with quality control and interpretation of results.
•    Support gene perturbation studies, which may include siRNA or CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein nucleofection, validation of editing efficiency, and phenotypic assays.

Research Operations, Data Quality, and Compliance
•    Maintain detailed electronic laboratory notebooks, sample inventories, reagent stocks, standard operating procedures, and organized primary data suitable for reproducible research and publication.
•    Analyze experimental data, prepare figures and summaries, contribute to laboratory meetings, and assist with manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, and grant-related materials.
•    Coordinate experiments with institutional cores and collaborators, including flow cytometry, microscopy, genomics, metabolomics, pathology, and micro-CT facilities.
•    Maintain laboratory equipment and shared spaces; order supplies; follow biosafety, chemical safety, animal research, and human-subject or biospecimen requirements; and assist with protocol documentation and renewals.
•    Train students and new laboratory members in established procedures and promote a rigorous, collaborative, and safety-focused research environment.

Preferred Qualifications and Technical Experience
•    Bachelor’s degree in biology, biomedical engineering, immunology, molecular biology, neuroscience, physiology, or a related field, with relevant laboratory experience consistent with institutional requirements for Research Assistant II.
•    Experience with mouse handling, survival surgery, colony management, tissue dissection, histology, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, mammalian cell culture, or molecular biology is strongly preferred.
•    Demonstrated attention to detail, strong organizational and communication skills, ability to manage multiple experiments, and willingness to learn technically demanding in vivo and translational methods.
•    Experience with quantitative image analysis, R or Python, transcriptomic datasets, or musculoskeletal research is desirable but not required.
 

BENEFITS
UT Southwestern is proud to offer a competitive and comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees. Our benefits are designed to support your overall wellbeing, and include:

• PPO medical plan, available day one at no cost for full-time employee-only coverage
• 100% coverage for preventive healthcare-no copay
• Paid Time Off, available day one
• Retirement Programs through the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)
• Paid Parental Leave Benefit
• Wellness programs
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Qualified Employer
• Learn more about these and other UTSW employee benefits!

EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

Required

• Education
  Master’s Degree with major coursework in field of assignment or 
  Bachelor’s Degree with major coursework in field of assignment or 
  Completion of 2 years of college or specialized training in histology, serology, medical technology, etc. or 
  High School Diploma including courses in basic sciences or GED equivalent 
   

• Experience
  1 year of experience as Research Assistant I or equivalent with Master’s degree or 
  2 years of experience including one (1) year as Research Assistant I or equivalent with Bachelor’s degree or 
  5 years of experience, including one (1) year as Research Assistant I or equivalent with two years of college or 
  7 years of experience, including one (1) year as Research Assistant I or equivalent with High School Diploma or GED equivalent 
   

JOB DUTIES

• Plans, coordinates, and supervises assigned research projects, which may be limited as segment of larger project, exercising responsibility for project performance and accountability for progress; and/or personally performs advanced scientific and medical research work, suggesting modifications to, or improvements in, design of research projects, presenting original ideas for follow-up studies, and recommending utilization of new or revised techniques and procedures to obtain desired results.
• Constructs, assembles, and operates experimental or other special designed laboratory apparatus and equipment.
• Assembles and analyzes research data.
• Assists in preparation of material for reports or publication.
• May supervise group of Research Technicians and/or Research Assistants of lower grade, making work assignments, advising on work procedures, and reviewing work in process and upon completion.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

SECURITY AND EEO STATEMENT

Security
This position is security-sensitive and subject to Texas Education Code 51.215, which authorizes UT Southwestern to obtain criminal history record information.

EEO
UT Southwestern Medical Center is committed to an educational and working environment that provides equal opportunity to all members of the University community. As an equal opportunity employer, UT Southwestern prohibits unlawful discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, or veteran status.