Research Assistant 2 - Musculoskeletal Regeneration, Trauma, and Wound Healing
No salary listed
Mid
Bachelor's, Master's, Associate's
Dallas, TX, USA
In Person
Academic & Institutional ResearchLife Sciences Research
About the job
Requirements
- A master's degree with major coursework in the field of assignment, a bachelor's degree with major coursework in the field of assignment, two years of college or specialized training in histology, serology, medical technology, or a related area, or a high school diploma with basic science coursework or GED equivalent is required.
- Depending on education, candidates need one year of experience as a Research Assistant I or equivalent with a master's degree; two years of experience, including one year as a Research Assistant I or equivalent, with a bachelor's degree; five years of experience, including one year as a Research Assistant I or equivalent, with two years of college; or seven years of experience, including one year as a Research Assistant I or equivalent, with a high school diploma or GED equivalent.
- Relevant laboratory experience consistent with institutional requirements for Research Assistant II is expected.
- Experience with mouse handling, survival surgery, colony management, tissue dissection, histology, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, mammalian cell culture, or molecular biology is strongly preferred.
- Candidates should demonstrate attention to detail and strong organizational and communication skills, be able to manage multiple experiments, and be willing to learn technically demanding in vivo and translational methods.
Responsibilities
- Maintain breeding colonies, genotype transgenic and reporter mouse lines, track experimental cohorts, and maintain complete colony and procedure records.
- Assist with and, after training and certification, perform mouse models relevant to the laboratory, including burn/tenotomy and other models of heterotopic ossification, tendon injury or overuse, digit amputation and regeneration, wound healing, and pharmacologic or genetic intervention studies.
- Administer study agents, monitor animals, collect blood and tissues at defined time points, and perform post-procedure assessments in accordance with approved IACUC protocols.
- Support functional phenotyping when required, including range-of-motion, gait, loading, pain-behavior, and tendon or musculoskeletal outcome assessments.
- Harvest, fix, decalcify, embed, section, and stain musculoskeletal, skin, tendon, nerve, lymphatic, and wound tissues.
- Perform histologic and immunostaining methods such as H&E, Masson's trichrome, picrosirius red, Safranin O, TRAP, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and multiplex staining or RNAscope as projects require.
- Acquire and analyze brightfield, fluorescence, and confocal microscopy images; quantify cell populations, vessel density, collagen organization, and marker colocalization using ImageJ/Fiji or related software.
- Prepare specimens for micro-computed tomography and perform or coordinate quantitative analysis of heterotopic bone, bone regeneration, and skeletal morphology.
- Isolate cells from blood, bone marrow, skin, tendon, and injury-site tissues; generate single-cell suspensions; perform multicolor flow cytometry and assist with fluorescence-activated cell sorting.
- Culture primary cells, including mesenchymal or skeletal progenitor cells, keratinocytes, macrophage or dendritic-cell populations, and other project-specific cell types; perform migration, differentiation, co-culture, and conditioned-media assays.
- Perform RNA and protein extraction, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or multiplex cytokine assays, western blotting, and related molecular assays.
- Prepare high-quality samples and associated metadata for bulk RNA sequencing, single-cell RNA sequencing, lipidomics, metabolomics, and other core-facility analyses; assist with quality control and interpretation of results.
- Support gene perturbation studies, which may include small interfering RNA or CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein nucleofection, validation of editing efficiency, and phenotypic assays.
- Maintain detailed electronic laboratory notebooks, sample inventories, reagent stocks, standard operating procedures, and organized primary data suitable for reproducible research and publication.
- Analyze experimental data, prepare figures and summaries, contribute to laboratory meetings, and assist with manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, and grant-related materials.
- Coordinate experiments with institutional cores and collaborators, including flow cytometry, microscopy, genomics, metabolomics, pathology, and micro-computed tomography facilities.
- Maintain laboratory equipment and shared spaces; order supplies; follow biosafety, chemical safety, animal research, and human-subject or biospecimen requirements; and assist with protocol documentation and renewals.
- Train students and new laboratory members in established procedures and promote a rigorous, collaborative, and safety-focused research environment.
- Plan, coordinate, and supervise assigned research projects, which may be a limited segment of a larger project, exercising responsibility for project performance and accountability for progress; and/or personally perform advanced scientific and medical research work, suggest modifications or improvements to research project design, present original ideas for follow-up studies, and recommend new or revised techniques and procedures to obtain desired results.
- Construct, assemble, and operate experimental or other specially designed laboratory apparatus and equipment.
- Assemble and analyze research data.
- Assist in preparing material for reports or publication.
- May supervise a group of lower-grade Research Technicians and/or Research Assistants, make work assignments, advise on work procedures, and review work in process and upon completion.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with quantitative image analysis, R or Python, transcriptomic datasets, or musculoskeletal research is desirable but not required.
About the company
UT Southwestern Medical Center is an academic medical center in Dallas, Texas, integrating patient care, biomedical research, and medical education. It operates a main campus and regional medical centers alongside four schools, including a medical school and graduate programs in health professions and public health. What sets UT Southwestern apart is research output ranked No. 1 worldwide by the Nature Index, backed by Nobel laureates on faculty. The goal is to advance medical discovery into better treatments and compassionate patient care.
Company Size
N/A
Company Stage
Grant
Total Funding
$18M
Headquarters
Dallas, Texas
Founded
N/A
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- The Stephens Greth Foundation gave $100 million on April 1, 2026 for the pediatric campus.
- InterAct licensing on March 24, 2026 targets metastatic cancer commercialization and royalties.
- World Cup 26 and Dallas Pulse partnerships expand brand visibility and community recruiting in 2026.
What critics are saying
- Paxton sued affiliate Jason Jarin on February 18, 2026, escalating Texas care restrictions.
- UT Southwestern lists twelve physician departures closing practices by June 30, 2026.
- Research reliance on NIH, ARPA-H, and state grants exposes labs to political budget shocks.
What makes UT Southwestern Medical Center unique
- UT Southwestern won up to $25 million ARPA-H funding for VITAL on January 12, 2026.
- Simmons Cancer Center joined AccessHope’s network in June 2024, extending national oncology reach.
- UT Southwestern operates the Texas Behavioral Health Center, opened June 16, 2026.
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Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Paid Vacation
- Paid Parental Leave
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Wellness Program
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Qualified Employer