Research Assistant I

Position Summary
At Boston Children's Hospital, we strive to improve the health of children through innovative research. We are seeking a highly motivated and detail-oriented Research Assistant I to join the Chen Lab in the Department of Cardiology at Boston Children's Hospital. The research assistant will support computational and translational studies that use bioinformatics and artificial intelligence to understand how cell identity and gene expression are regulated during development and disease.

The Chen Lab is a multidisciplinary computational biology laboratory focused on cell identity and gene regulation in development and disease. Lab members develop innovative artificial intelligence and bioinformatics methods and collaborate with clinicians and experimental biologists. The lab fosters research freedom, self-motivation, collaboration, and professional growth within the rich biomedical research environment of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.


Key Responsibilities

• According to prescribed protocols and assigned schedules, performs a variety of routine laboratory experiments and procedures, utilizing standard laboratory equipment, recording and checking results for completeness and accuracy.
• Assists in troubleshooting procedures if experimental results are unexpected or quality of specimens is poor. Performs the following techniques typically required for the laboratory/study:Maintains records of results and methodologies in a log of work performed.
• Maintains equipment, lab area, and supplies in a neat professional manner.Sterilize and clean glassware, and prepare media and other materials using appropriate procedures.Inventories supplies, alerts supervisor to needed supplies, or mixes standard reagents.
• Processes order for supplies and/or animals. Attends courses in safety procedures for handling, storage, and disposal of biohazardous, flammable, corrosive, and toxic materials.Carries out all laboratory activities in compliance with applicable regulations and protocols.
• Conducts literature searches and reviews, compiling information for journals and suggesting uses for new techniques to the P.I.
• Attends courses, lectures, and conferences to further own knowledge of research and laboratory techniques, consulting with other researchers and technicians to exchange information. Contributes to the team within and between departments and organizations.

Minimum Qualifications
Education:

• a Bachelor's degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, biostatistics, data science, biology, or a related field. A Master's degree is desired but not required.

Experience:

• 0-1 years of relevant research experience