Lab Technician (625490) | School of Medicine | Neurosurgery

Dr. Paul Koch’s lab in the Department of Neurosurgery is seeking a laboratory technician to assist him and graduate/postdoc students with studies in rodents in the fields of traumatic brain injury and epilepsy. These studies complement Dr. Koch’s clinical work and research efforts in human epilepsy. Duties will include brain sectioning, immunohistochemistry, caring for rodents, assisting with cranial surgeries and conducting and analyzing rodent behavior. Some laboratory management tasks will also be required, such as documentation and supply ordering. There is also the opportunity for learning electrophysiological techniques and neural data analysis. Opportunities are available for scientific publication and presentation for the motivated individual.

In addition, there may be opportunity to assist with human clinical, or translational studies as appropriate. Duties could include administering tasks to research subjects undergoing EEG recordings, operation of research neural data acquisition equipment and behavioral and neural data analysis. Appropriate certifications, training and oversight would be provided by Dr Koch and his laboratory.

Core Responsibilities:
• (35%) Animal Care
o Maintain rodent colony in conjunction with the animal care facility and approved protocols, including pre- and post-operative monitoring and appropriate documentation and communication;
o Learn to assist in rodent surgeries and procedures;

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalentHigh school diploma or equivalent
• Work experience in a research laboratory (outside of college coursework).
• Experience and strong interest in the experimental neurosciences.
• Willingness and ability to learn and apply new techniques in animal surgery, rodent behavior, histology, electrophysiology, etc.
• Ability to conduct multiple experiments simultaneously.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to function semi-autonomously with supervision.
• Knowledge of scientific and technical principles, practices, and regulatory requirements.
• Ability to communicate effectively and interact with co-workers in the laboratory, department and university.
• Willingness and ability to travel between VA Medical Center and VCU as needed.
• Must successfully complete appropriate training and certification in research animal use and care (rodents) from VCU as well as the VA Medical Center upon hire.
• Demonstrated ability to work in and foster an environment of respect, professionalism and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from all backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent work experience, in a life science program (biology, neuroscience, biochemistry, etc.) or a technical program such as biomedical engineering, computer science, etc.
• Experience with laboratory rodent handling
• Experience with rodent surgery
• Experience with tissue sectioning and immunohistochemistry

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