About City of Hope

City of Hope is an independent biomedical research and treatment organization for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases.

Founded in 1913, City of Hope is a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy such as CAR T cell therapy. City of Hope’s translational research and personalized treatment protocols advance care throughout the world. Human synthetic insulin, monoclonal antibodies and numerous breakthrough cancer drugs are based on technology developed at the institution.  AccessHope™, a subsidiary launched in 2019 serves employers and their health care partners by providing access to City of Hope’s specialized cancer expertise.

A National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, City of Hope is ranked among the nation’s “Best Hospitals” in cancer by U.S. News & World Report and received Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Its main campus is located near Los Angeles, with additional locations throughout Southern California and in Arizona.

City of Hope’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We believe diversity, equity and inclusion is key in serving our mission to provide compassionate patient care, drive innovative discovery, and advance vital education focused on eliminating cancer and diabetes in all our communities.  Our commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ensures we bring the full range of skills, perspectives, cultural backgrounds, and experiences to our work -- and that our teams align with the people we serve to build trust and understanding.  We are dedicated to fostering a community that embraces diversity - in ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives; this is reflected in our work and represented in our people.

Position Summary

The Nora Heisterkamp Lab is looking for a talented Research Associate!  Our lab studies drug resistance and relapse in leukemias and how the microenvironment of the leukemia cells contributes to this. This project focuses on understanding mechanisms contributing to loss or lack of responsiveness of Multiple Myeloma to monoclonal antibody immunotherapy.

Laboratory skills:

• Isolation of human NK cells from PBMC and performing ADCC assays with them.
• Generating CRISPR/Cas9 knockouts in human hematopoietic cell types.
• Co-culture of human hematopoietic cells with supporting stromal cells.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Excellent technical skills:  able to perform hands-on lab benchwork experiments proficiently and independently.
• Generate, interpret and evaluate data, communicate results in an organized manner.
• Accurate record keeping.

Basic education, experience and skills required for consideration:

• A Bachelors Degree with 2 years of research laboratory experience or a Masters degree with 1 year of research laboratory experience.   
• Expertise in FACS, flow sorting of primary hematopoietic cell types, magnetic bead column isolation of human hematopoietic cells.
• Culturing human hematopoietic cell lines in tissue culture, viably freezing and thawing hematopoietic cells.
• Viable cell counting.
• Basic biochemical skills such as processing cells for protein lysates and RNAseq.

Additional Information:

As a condition of employment, City of Hope requires staff to comply with all state and federal vaccination mandates.

• The location of our lab at the Monrovia Campus of the Beckman Research Institute within the Department of Systems Biology provides many opportunities to interact with others who study leukemias.
• Our lab has ongoing collaborations at the crossroads of leukemia research and glycobiology with the ACRF International Centre for Cancer Glycomics at the Institute for Glycomics Griffith University, Australia.
• For more information, please visit Dr. Heisterkamp at City of Hope https://www.cityofhope.org/nora-heisterkamp
• Please include an updated CV, a cover letter describing your current position, reasons for applying and contact details of two referees.

City of Hope is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with disability.