Summary

A full-time Senior Research Assistant position is available in Dr. McGinley Lab at the BCM Department of Neuroscience. Our laboratory studies Neuromodulatory mechanisms of attentional/listening effort, Brain circuits for navigation in acoustic virtual reality and Improved perceptual learning with peripheral nerve stimulation. The lab is looking for a highly motivated individual to supervise and help carry out animal behavior experiments and clinic studies. The lab will provide training for the required techniques and offer an interactive and stimulating environment with opportunities for independence and career growth.

Job Duties

• Plan, direct and conduct he inner-workings of our high-throughput rodent behavioral training approaches so that best practices can be standardized over long time periods and stably flow into the proper channels.
• Track behavioral project goals.
• Oversee data management, including pre-processing and pipelining of experimental data; transfer to and organization of data servers; and ongoing pipeline improvement.
• Prepare documentation for Institutional Review Board approval. 
• Read and integrate the literature into our ongoing projects.
• Train and orient other less experienced lab personnel.
• Will attain expertise in surgical and behavioral techniques for their own work and to support other lab members’ research.
• Responsible for training new lab members in research techniques.
• Recruit participants, obtain consents, maintain files, schedule and conduct interviews.
• Coordinate data collection with other research staff as appropriate.
• Assist with data analysis and generating correspondence, reports and graphics.
• Write and maintain lab animal protocols and help ensure other lab members know and follow these protocols.
• Assist with mouse colony maintenance including breeding, microchipping, genotyping and weaning as needed for research projects.
• Maintain lab oversight of supply inventory, procurement, and institutional compliance. 
• Coordinate the schedules for shared experimental stations.
• Oversee the maintenance of lab equipment and environment.

Minimum Qualifications

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

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience handling lab mice or rats and working with genetically engineered lines, prior experience with basic laboratory techniques. 
• Good organizational skills, excellent record keeping, attention to detail, and can work well with others.