Technical Associate - Expansion Microscopy Engineering

The Mindspan Institute is a new non-profit research institute in Cambridge, MA, aimed at building novel tools to analyze the human brain, and scaling them to study its molecules and wiring. We interpret how they contribute to brain functions and dysfunctions, and share our tools and discoveries as freely as possible, to advance human health.

The role

This is an engineering-oriented science role, optimizing, validating, and applying the whole expansion microscopy pipeline: fixation, anchoring, gelation, softening, staining, imaging, and quality control. The job involves careful thinking about which parameters matter and why, meticulous execution, and sharp observation of results, figuring out what those observations imply about a chemical step upstream, and which parameters to change to improve sample quality and throughput.

You report to the Head of Scalable Chemistry, and work with other members of the Scalable Chemistry team, using logic and evidence to advance your work so as to boost the performance of all.

The position is intended for someone who wants to extend what expansion microscopy can do in brain tissue, in addition to running established protocols. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the job, it is ideal for a person who enjoys problem solving across chemistry, biology, and imaging, at the level of concepts as well as of hands-on debugging. It also requires systematic documentation, analysis, and iterative problem solving, to arrive at working protocols, apply them, and share them.

What you'll do

• Execute and optimize expansion microscopy experiments on mouse and human brain tissue, from fixation and tissue intake through anchoring, gelation, softening, and expansion.
• Produce high-quality expanded and stained brain tissue samples, reproducibly and at increasing throughput.
• Run immunostaining and antibody screening in expanded tissue, by hand and on automated staining and imaging systems.
• Image samples by confocal microscopy, and quantify quality control metrics such as expansion factor, distortion, and labeling quality.
• Documentation and training: keep protocol records that others can execute, with the reasoning behind each parameter.

Required qualifications

• B.S. or B.A. in chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, bioengineering, biophysics, neuroscience, or a related field.
• Direct hands-on experience with wet-lab bench work, including accurate solution and buffer preparation, tissue handling or histology, immunostaining, and fluorescence microscopy.
• Demonstrated ability to run multi-day, multi-step protocols reproducibly, and to troubleshoot and improve them.
• Excellent experimental judgment and scientific rigor.

Preferred qualifications

• Hands-on experience with expansion microscopy, tissue clearing, or other hydrogel-based tissue methods.
• Confocal or light-sheet microscopy experience, and an understanding of optics.
• Data and image analysis skills (Python, Fiji/ImageJ, MATLAB, or similar).
• Background in polymer, hydrogel, or protein chemistry.
• Experience with brain tissue, e.g., perfusion, fixation, and sectioning.
• Experience with automated liquid handling or high-throughput screening.

Culture we're building

The disorders of the brain affect over 1,000,000,000 people around the world: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke, and other conditions. We operate with a sense of urgency, even as we look to understand the brain at its most fundamental levels.

We are hypercollaborative, and focused on impact over short-term markers of productivity. Creativity and failure are the stepping stones to scale, and working together with “strong opinions, weakly held” is our style.

We solve real engineering problems the best way we can: inventing fast when we have to, and using good existing solutions where they exist. We believe hard problems only yield to many disciplines working together, so collaboration is not optional.

We expect people to explore the unknown, which means making mistakes daily, owning them, and learning from them to improve and excel.

We are recruiting a team of scientists and engineers who exemplify all these values.

What we're looking for

The ideal candidate is a scientist-engineer who naturally crosses disciplinary boundaries, and who wants to know why each step of a protocol has the value it has. You can explain why an experiment worked, as well as why one failed. You are intellectually curious, relentlessly practical, and quick and agile, yet able to focus.

You have a strong detail orientation and exceptional organizational, planning, interpersonal, and communication skills. You are good at writing, can work within a team and also independently, and can prioritize and multitask as needed. Self-motivation, commitment to high quality standards, and a service-oriented mindset are all key. You have good judgment, balancing flexibility and focus, action and planning, speed and thoughtfulness, as appropriate. You are open to giving and receiving feedback, constructively and thoughtfully, to advance scientific missions and personal growth.

This is an in-person job. Flexible hours may be required at times.

What we offer

The chance to build the expansion and staining pipeline of a new research institute alongside some of the most adventurous scientists in the field, with real autonomy and a direct line to the people setting the scientific agenda. You will get to contribute to addressing one of the most important unmet medical needs of our time, as part of the initial team. You will learn lots of things that probably cannot be learned any other way, as you solve problems, build, and work with others. As Mindspan grows, we expect this role to grow with it. We are excited to invest in someone who wants to take on increasing responsibility over time.

Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and family benefits, and a matching retirement contribution.

Competitive salary ($75,000 to $110,000), depending on experience.