Research Lab Tech I

GENERAL SUMMARY OF POSITION:

Under the supervision of the Principal Investigator or designee, the Research Laboratory Technician I, performs animal colony management and routine laboratory maintenance.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Perform a variety of laboratory experiments using both routine and special techniques and methods
• Performs animal colony management such as weaning, ear punching, cage changing and RO bleeding.
• Records results, organizes data, and performs basic computations
• Maintains laboratory supplies and equipment
• Complies with all safety standards
• Conducts laboratory procedures and experiments as directed by the Principal Investigator, which includes tissue culture techniques, tissue staining (immunohistochemistry), and molecular biology techniques (protein isolation and Western blotting)
• Orders laboratory supplies as needed. Maintains accurate records and files of purchases.
• Performs other duties as required

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in Biological Science or an Associates degree in Biological Sciences and two years of experience, or equivalent
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office products
• Ability to perform duties independently
• Judgment and action skills required to solve commonly encountered problems.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED:

Under the supervision of the Principal Investigator or designee

SUPERVISION EXERCISED:

None

ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING CONDITIONS:

Wet chemistry laboratory, and may require appropriate contact with biohazards, radionucleotides, toxins, animals, and human specimens.

Varanasi Lab in the Division of Innate Immunity

Studying tissue-specific interactions between metabolism and immunity

Research Focus: Understanding the molecular mechanisms of tissue-specific immune responses

• Metabolic/differentiation states of T cells
• How metabolic tissue states contribute to T cell responses
• How the gut-microbiome and its metabolites affect T cell
• responses

CD8+ T cells exhibit a remarkable capacity to infiltrate diverse tissues throughout the body. Given that every tissue is physiologically and metabolically distinct, it is important to understand how tissue infiltrating T cells metabolically adapt in a tissue-specific manner to maintain optimal responses and how these adaptations are dysregulated in disease. This information can be further used to manipulate T cell responses to manage a variety of diseases where T cell responses are involved. Therefore, a major goal of the lab is to understand how different T cells metabolically adapt to different tissue microenvironments during homeostatic and disease state such as tumor, autoimmunity or chronic virus infection.

Learn more here: https://www.umassmed.edu/varanasilab/