Career Center

About the Wickman lab:

The function of the heart and brain is shaped by excitatory and inhibitory influences acting at the cellular level. Many debilitating medical problems including arrhythmias, addiction, anxiety, depression, and pain are caused by an imbalance in cellular excitability. Work in our lab seeks to identify, elucidate, and interrogate cellular and molecular mechanisms that modulate cell excitability in the heart and brain. By pursuing this research, new approaches to diagnose, treat, or prevent medical problems linked to pathological excitability can be envisioned, developed, and optimized.

For more information, please visit: Wickman Lab Homepage (umn.edu)

Job Responsibilities
Contribute to NIH-funded and pilot research programs exploring the molecular and cellular basis of behaviors related to addiction, mood (anxiety and depression), learning and memory.

Primary duties will include:
45% leading an independent research project
o Conducting investigations and experiments in an assigned area to aid in finding a solution to a research problem
o Understanding the relevant scientific literature and context surrounding the problem
o Developing and adapting scientific protocols to ensure that high quality and reproducible data are obtained; comprehensive record-keeping
o Data analysis and interpretation
o Aid in dissemination of study findings (e.g., manuscript preparation)
45% supporting other research projects
o Apply technical skills to forward the goals of other lab projects
o Communication across team members of results, challenges, opportunities related to domain(s) of responsibility
o Mentorship/training of other team members in domain(s) of expertise
10% general lab support
o Maintaining a safe, clean, and organized workplace
o Monitoring and ordering supplies
o Maintaining and servicing lab equipment as needed
o Assistance with training of new students (undergraduate, graduate, rotation) or lab staff
o Maintain/renew Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and (Institutional Biosafety Committee) approvals
o Coordinating/managing inspections by institutional oversight divisions

All required qualifications must be documented on application materials

Required Qualifications (must be mentioned on application/resume)
• BA/BS in the Life Sciences (e.g., Molecular Biology, Genetics, Chemistry/Biochemistry, Biology, Neuroscience, Physiology) and 2 years of experience working in a biomedical research laboratory (note: college coursework with lab component does not meet this criterion); or a combination of related education and experience to equal six (6) years.
• Experience with mouse handling and husbandry

Preferred Qualifications
• Two or more of the following:
Experience with intracranial manipulations (pharmacologic, genetic, chemogenetic, optogenetic), and behavioral analysis, in mice
Experience with techniques in molecular biology/genetics (e.g., PCR, RT-qPCR, gene expression analysis, RNAseq)
Experience with techniques in biochemistry (e.g., immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation, proteomics/phosphoproteomics)
Experience with techniques in histology (e.g., tissue harvest and sectioning, immunohistochemistry, microscopy)
Experience with in vivo (e.g., fiber photometry, miniscopes) or in vitro imaging (e.g, calcium imaging in cultured neurons)
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; comfort in working in a team
• Reliable, accountable, organized, detail-oriented

About University of Minnesota Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota, founded in the belief that all people are enriched by understanding, is dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth; to the sharing of this knowledge through education for a diverse community; and to the application of this knowledge to benefit the people of the state, the nation, and the world.

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