Research Associate II – Infectious Disease – Heung Lab

Principal Investigator, Lena Heung, MD, PhD is looking for a Research Associate II to join her team!

The research of Lena Heung, MD, PhD, focuses on the roles of innate immune cells in the host response to respiratory fungal pathogens, in particular Cryptococcus neoformans. C. neoformans is an environmental fungus that can cause highly fatal lung and central nervous system infections in immunocompromised patients, including those with HIV/AIDS, cancer, solid organ transplantation and autoimmune conditions. The goal of Dr. Heung’s research is to define the innate immune mechanisms that determine host outcomes after infection in order to facilitate the development of immunomodulatory therapies for susceptible patients.

Are you a passionate and dedicated research professional?

Working under direct supervision, as a Research Associate II (RA II), perform routine and increasingly complex laboratory tasks and procedures and develops technical expertise in one or more areas relevant to research projects. The RAII participates in research activities involving all aspects of the research process including investigation, technical, testing/validation of results, and report findings. Supports the objectives of laboratory research projects and will observe and comply with safety standards and procedures, assist in preparation of data for publication and/or presentation at scholarly meetings, and assist in general laboratory maintenance. This role does not have supervisory responsibilities.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Performs a variety of increasingly complex experimental protocols and procedures and assist in the design of new complex or unusual protocols and techniques.
• Keeps accurate and detailed records of experiments and results and assists in identifying and troubleshooting of unexpected results.
• Orders laboratory supplies and supports laboratory operations.
• Maintains lab equipment and related records and may coordinate use of lab equipment.
• Assists in the operation of specialized equipment, as required by the area of research.
• Orients research laboratory assistants or lower level research associates and undergraduate student researchers on day-to-day lab operations and routine procedures.

Department and/or unit specific responsibilities:

• Organize and maintain mouse lines specific to the lab of Dr. Lena Heung.
• Perform animal work including infections, injections, and tissue harvest as well as breeding, weaning, and genotyping of transgenic and knockout animals.
• Other duties may include: Tissue culture, preparation of microbial cultures, ELISA, Western blotting, quantitative RT-PCR, flow cytometry, immunohistochemical, and quantitative analysis of tissue samples, organization and maintenance of samples and other laboratory stock material.
• Assist other researchers as assigned.

Educational Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in a Science related field, required

Experience and Skillset:

• One year of laboratory experience, required
• Understanding of general research objectives.
• Knowledgeable in routine laboratory procedures, experimental protocols, and overall lab organization.
• Must be highly motivated and work independently.
• Must have superior interpersonal, communication and organization skills and the ability to work across company specialties and functional units, and computer application experience.
• Must possess computer skills to include, but not limited to, Excel and Word.
• Ability to simultaneously manage multiple clerical trials, and attention to details.

Cedars-Sinai is a leader in providing high-quality healthcare encompassing primary care, specialized medicine and research. Since 1902, Cedars-Sinai has evolved to meet the needs of one of the most diverse regions in the nation, setting standards in quality and innovative patient care, research, teaching and community service. Today, Cedars- Sinai is known for its national leadership in transforming healthcare for the benefit of patients. Cedars-Sinai impacts the future of healthcare by developing new approaches to treatment and educating tomorrow’s health professionals. Additionally, Cedars-Sinai demonstrates a commitment to the community through programs that improve the health of its most vulnerable residents.

Cedars-Sinai is one of the largest nonprofit academic medical centers in the U.S., with 886 licensed beds, 2,100 physicians, 2,800 nurses and thousands of other healthcare professionals and staff. Choose this if you want to work in a fast-paced environment that offers the highest level of care to people in the Los Angeles that need our care the most.

Req ID

: HRC0318182E

Working Title

: Research Associate II – Infectious Disease – Heung Lab

Department

: Research – Pulmonary

Business Entity

: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Job Category

: Academic / Research

Job Specialty

: Research Studies/ Clin Trial

Overtime Status

: NONEXEMPT

Primary Shift

: Day

Shift Duration

: 8 hour

Base Pay

: $21.26 – $36.14

Cedars-Sinai is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.

Cedars-Sinai does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of the race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, physical or mental disability, legally protected medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics or any genetic information), marital status, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, age (40 or older), military and/or veteran status or any other basis protected by federal or state law. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.

Cedars-Sinai will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories, in accordance with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.

At Cedars-Sinai, we are dedicated to the safety, health and wellbeing of our patients and employees. This includes protecting our patients from communicable diseases, such as influenza (flu) and COVID-19. For this reason, we require that all new employees receive a flu vaccine based on the seasonal availability of flu vaccine (typically during September through April each year) as a condition of employment, and annually thereafter as a condition of continued employment, subject to medical exemption or religious accommodation. For the same reason, you may also be required to receive other vaccines such as COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Cedars-Sinai reserves the right to make modifications to its required list of vaccines as required by law and/or policy. Cedars-Sinai’s AA Policy Statement (PDF) (opens in new window)