RESEARCH ASSISTANT III

 Department, Unit or Project Description:

The Foster Lab is housed at St. Joseph’s Healthcare at 50 Charlton Avenue East.  Dr. Foster is an active researcher in two large translational networks - the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders Network (POND) and the Canadian Biomarkers in Depression (CAN-BIND).  By combining basic science research with clinical collaboration in psychiatry, psychology, and gastroenterology, the Foster lab has developed a ‘bench to bedside’ and back again approach to studying microbiota-brain and immune-brain systems aimed at understanding how these relationships contribute to psychiatric disorders such as neurodevelopmental disorders, anxiety and depression.  

The individual will have lab experience in molecular and immunology to participate in ongoing clinical and molecular work.  In addition, an ability to conduct literature reviews, data analysis, and support manuscript preparation is essential.

Position is available immediately. 

Job Summary:

Provide research support for faculty members in their teaching, research and laboratory activities. Work is performed independently, with the availability of direction and guidance from Research Staff or Manager.

Accountabilities:

1. Adhering to established research methodology, gather and compile data for the research study or project.
2. Modify and adapt research methods, techniques or procedures, based on deviations in experimental results.
3. Record, classify, and summarize research data according to established procedures.
4. Conduct structured participant interviews and focus groups.
5. Carry out intermediate level statistical analyses.
6. Contribute to the preparation of data for reports, journal articles, papers, etc.
7. Conduct literature reviews and synthesize findings.
8. Perform other related tasks as outlined by the researcher.

Qualifications:

Education: Completed a relevant post-secondary degree.

Experience: Minimum of 6 months of related experience in a research environment.

Assets:

Lab experience in:

• blood sample processing for plasma, serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)
• Immunology lab techniques including protein isolation (tissue) protein assay, ELISA
• Molecular lab techniques including DNA/RNA isolation, qPCR, genotyping

Other assets:

• Bioinformatics related to microbiome
• Ability to run analysis in R
• Working knowledge of GraphPad prism, excel, SPSS

Additional Information: 

Previous work with mice and knowledge of behavioural neurosciences is desirable.