The EPA National Student Services Contract has an immediate opening for a full time Cell Culture Laboratory Support position with the Office of Research and Development at the EPA facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.

The Office of Research and Development at the EPA supports high-quality research to improve the scientific basis for decisions on national environmental issues and help EPA achieve its environmental goals. Research is conducted in a broad range of environmental areas by scientists in EPA laboratories and at universities across the country.

What the EPA project is about

The Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (CCTE) supports ORD by providing solutions-driven research to rapidly evaluate the potential human health and environmental risks due to exposures to environmental stressors and ensure the integrity of the freshwater environment and its capacity to support human well-being. CCTE researchers are developing and applying cutting edge innovations in methods to rapidly evaluate chemical toxicity, transport, and exposure to people and environments. Within CCTE, the Biomolecular and Computational Toxicology Division (BCTD) performs research to develop and advance laboratory experimental and computational approaches to rapidly evaluate and characterize the potential human toxicity of chemicals.

The projects this Laboratory Support Technician will be assisting with are part of an overall research program aimed at populating databases of chemical concentration-response data from two cell-based screening assays: 1) targeted RNA-Seq based high-throughput transcriptomics (HTTr) screening and 2) high content imaging based high-throughput phenotypic profiling (HTPP). This student will assist with cell husbandry and performing experiments for CCTE using in house resources, including cell culture tools, laboratory robotics and instruments for data collection under the mentorship of a CCTE scientist.

What experience and skills will you gain?

As a team member, you will assist CCTE laboratory scientific researchers with laboratory experiments, maintenance and management, sample inventory and management, data analysis, as well as some administrative support functions.

Analytical and laboratory responsibilities:

• Preparation and/or maintenance of cell cultures to be used in laboratory experiments. This may include passaging and expansion of clonal cell lines and primary cultures from human or animal tissues;

• Preparation of subcellular fractions, homogenates, cell or tissue lysates and DNA or RNA extracts from cells or tissues;

• Molecular biology analysis of cell and tissue samples include immunocytochemistry, Western blotting, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing;

• Cellular fluorescent, confocal and brightfield microscopy and high content image analysis;

• Recombinant DNA cloning, cellular transfection and/or transduction;

• Maintaining, managing and organizing laboratory facilities, supplies and reagents;

• Preparation of solution, reagents and test compound stock solutions that are needed for experiments;

• Maintaining inventories of laboratory reagents;

• Maintaining sample inventories and logs;

• Following protocols and experimental workflows for conducting high-throughput screening assays. Conduct of experiments will include setting up the equipment, administering test compounds, collecting data and clearly documenting all important experimental details using written and/or electronic laboratory notebooks according to CCTE Quality Assurance plans;

• Assisting in assay development and optimization by troubleshooting results and suggesting solutions;

• Preliminary analysis of experimental results including preparing reports, summary tables, graph and basic statistical analysis;

• Conducting literature reviews, obtaining and reviewing publications and summarizing scientific literature;

• Sterilizing and cleaning glassware and maintaining laboratory facilities in a neat and orderly fashion; and

• Strict adherence to safety rules and procedures for conducting laboratory research.

Communications-related responsibilities:

• Participating as a member of a multi-disciplinary research team;

• Filing and organizing records;

• Assisting in summary analysis documents of results and impacts from data analyses;

• Assisting in writing study results in manuscripts, presentations, and fact sheets; and

• May be asked to present work performed as a poster at a scientific conference.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

• Prior experience working with environmental, biological and/or human samples including sample organization, labeling, receiving, inventory and processing;

• A working knowledge of good cell culture practice as well as basic molecular biology techniques such as DNA/RNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), recombinant cloning, transfection, protein lysate preparation, Western blotting and immunocytochemistry;

• Experience with general laboratory safety and record keeping practices;

• At least 16 semester hours of laboratory coursework that includes pipetting, preparing solutions and dilutions, good cell culture technique, sterilization and laboratory sanitation and basic molecular biology techniques; and

• Experience using Microsoft Excel to summarize and manipulate data files, manage data, create graphics, and conduct basic data analysis.

Desired Knowledge, Skills, Work Experience, and Education

• Prior work experience in a working laboratory environment outside of a classroom setting;

• Experience with microscopy techniques, image analysis, flow cytometry and small-scale laboratory automation; and

• Experience with R programming language and packages for data analysis.

Location: This job will be located EPA’s facility in Research Triangle Park, NC.

Salary: Selected applicant will become a temporary employee of ORAU and will receive an hourly wage of $23.37 for hours worked.

Hours: Full-time.

Travel: Occasional overnight travel may be required.

Expected start date: The position is full time and expected to begin July 2023. The selected applicant will become a temporary employee of ORAU working as a contractor to EPA. The contract renews each May through 2025.

For more information, contact EPANSSC@orau.org. Do not contact EPA directly.

• Be at least 18 years of age and

• Have earned at least a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, biology, toxicology, environmental science, or other related fields of study from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months and

• Be a citizen of the United States of America or a Legal Permanent Resident.

EPA ORD employees, their spouses, and children are not eligible to participate in this program.

• Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree received within the last 24 month(s).
• Overall GPA: 2.00
• Discipline(s):
  • Earth and Geosciences
  • Environmental and Marine Sciences
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences
  • Other Physical Sciences

I certify that I am at least 18 years of age; a recent graduate with at least a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, biology, toxicology, environmental science, or other related field from an accredited university or college within the last 24 months; a citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident of the United States of America; and not a current employee of EPA ORD or the spouse or child of an EPA ORD employee.