School of Medicine

Established in 1930, Duke University School of Medicine is the youngest of the nation's top medical schools. Ranked sixth among medical schools in the nation, the School takes pride in being an inclusive community of outstanding learners, investigators, clinicians, and staff where interdisciplinary collaboration is embraced and great ideas accelerate translation of fundamental scientific discoveries to improve human health locally and around the globe. Composed of more than 2,600 faculty physicians and researchers, nearly 2,000 students, and more than 6,200 staff, the Duke University School of Medicine along with the Duke University School of Nursing, and Duke University Health System comprise Duke Health, a world-class academic medical center. The Health System encompasses Duke University Hospital, Duke Regional Hospital, Duke Raleigh Hospital, Duke Health Integrated Practice, Duke Primary Care, Duke Home Care and Hospice, Duke Health and Wellness, and multiple affiliations.

LAB RESEARCH ANALYST I

Duke Human Vaccine Institute

Position Overview

The Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) continues to lead cutting-edge vaccine research against infectious diseases that impact global health. Basic science discoveries made using a variety of human and pathogen-derived proteins, designed, expressed and purified by a collaborative DHVI team have contributed to the identification of vaccine and therapeutic candidates currently being produced in Good Manufacturing Practice facilities for early phase clinical trials. Our lab will be studying the germinal center and antibody-forming responses following immunization and provide feedback to the design and selection of candidate vaccine immunogens.

Responsibilities 

Flow Cytometry and Single B Cell Isolation:

• Enrich B cells from human, macaque, and mouse samples.
• Perform flow cytometry-based single B cell isolation and culture.
• Design and execute flow cytometry data analysis with FlowJo and Prism GraphPad.

Immunoassays:

• Conduct ELISA and bead-based multiplexed immunoassays.
• Conduct immunofluorescence staining and microscopic analysis.

Antibody Repertoire Studies:

• Perform PCR isolation of antibody genes from single sorted or bulk cultured B cells, and prepare samples for NGS library Prep.
• Conduct NGS sequence analysis for antibody repertoire studies.
• Manage recombinant antibody production and purification.

Laboratory Safety and Compliance:

• Understand and comply with all safety standards and procedures to ensure a safe working environment for all laboratory staff.
• Adhere to all standard operating procedures and protocols.
• Maintain thorough and reliable archiving of experiments.

Laboratory Maintenance and Supply Management:

• Collaborate with Lab manager to keep lab equipment, chemicals, reagents, and supplies in excellent order.
• Track work progress and compliantly order materials and reagents associated with numerous projects under multiple grants.

Skill Development and Collaboration:

• Learn or develop new techniques with colleagues together.
• Review primary data with the supervisor on a weekly basis.
• Collaborate with other staff and perform additional duties as requested by the Principal Investigator or senior lab staff.

Required Qualifications at this Level

• Education/Training: Work requires a bachelor's degree in botany, biology, zoology, psychology or other directly related scientific field.
• Experience: Work requires two years of research experience. A related master's degree may offset required years of experience on a 1:1 basis, e.g., a two-year master's degree in lieu of two years of experience. OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE.

Skill Requirements

• Cell line and primary cell culture experience.
• ELISA or bead-based immunoassays.
• Nucleic acid extraction, RT-PCR, PCR, Real-time qPCR, and agarose gel electrophoresis.
• Cell isolation using density gradient centrifugation, FACS and/or MACS-based methods.
• Flow cytometer operation, surface/intracellular marker staining and flow data analysis with FlowJo software (plus, but not required).
• Mouse handling, tracking, sexing, anesthesia, blood withdraw, injection (tail vein

intravenous, intraperitoneal, footpad and subcutaneous), and dissection. (plus, but not required).

• Must be team oriented and able to work in a highly collaborative and interactive work environment to complete complex tasks.
• Must be able to manage multiple and rapidly changing priorities and have ability to quickly learn new skills.
• Must be detail-oriented and well organized.

Duke is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Our collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas—an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of our perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of our community have a responsibility to uphold these values.

Essential Physical Job Functions: Certain jobs at Duke University and Duke University Health System may include essentialjob functions that require specific physical and/or mental abilities. Additional information and provision for requests for reasonable accommodation will be provided by each hiring department.