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Posted: 12-Oct-23
Location: La Jolla, California
Salary: Open
Internal Number: 125879
UCSD Layoff from Career Appointment: Apply by 10/13/2023 for consideration with preference for rehire. All layoff applicants should contact their Employment Advisor.
Special Selection Applicants: Apply by 10/25/2023. Eligible Special Selection clients should contact their Disability Counselor for assistance.
DESCRIPTION
The Milk Analytics Core (MAC) is part of the Human Milk Institute (HMI), UC San Diego's central hub to advance human milk from molecular discoveries to local and global public health impact.
At HMI, we bring organizations at the forefront of human milk research, clinical care, milk banking, education, and public and global health together to expand our understanding of human milk so we can apply that knowledge and improve lifelong health worldwide.
Our mission is to transform the approach to lifelong health for all people through human milk. We will pursue our mission through close collaboration with our partners and holding fast to our core values. We envision a future where human milk is the first and critical foundation for human life and equitable access to better health for the global community. We are laying the foundation for achieving this vision by establishing a world-class institute and creating a sustainable model for ongoing research into human milk.
One of HMI's core pillars is its Milk Analytics Core (MAC). Human milk is dynamic, complex, and unique. Analyzing its composition is not trivial, and many of the current tools fail to provide the data researchers need. MAC is the source for human milk-specific protocols, assay development, and assay validation from the world's leading experts. MAC fills the gap in human milk innovation, empowering our internal and external partners to transform human milk research and care.
Human milk is a complex tissue that requires specific collection protocols and analytical tools to characterize its composition accurately. Therefore, analytical platforms used to measure analytes in blood, plasma, or urine must be re-evaluated and validated to apply to human milk. Our goal is to offer assays that utilize already-established analytical platforms calibrated and validated for the unique nature of human milk.
We are designing a workflow that streamlines initiating and completing projects with ready-to-ship sample collection kits and collection protocols. On campus, we currently partner with the UC San Diego Microbiome Core for milk microbiome analysis and collaborate with the Pharmacometrics and Analytical Chemistry Core to measure drugs and metabolites in milk.
Our goal is for MAC to become a comprehensive human milk analytics resource, offering knowledge, skills, and technologies for the global research community, including UC San Diego collaborators, other academic institutions as well as commercial organizations.
Under general supervision, the research associate will independently perform all analysis and validation of human milk samples, including design and validation of assays and the design and analysis of experiments to measure human milk macronutrients (lipids, proteins, lactose) and micronutrients, bioactives including growth factors, hormones, cytokines, and chemokines, and unique human milk molecules, such as oligosaccharides (HMOs). The incumbent, under the supervision of the Executive Director, will help set up, maintain, and manage the Milk Analytics Core and be responsible for all data analyses, protocol standardization and writing best practices, development and standardization of new assays, project prioritization, ordering/quoting equipment, organizing equipment/supplies, equipment maintenance, and training new personnel. We expect the incumbent to make contributions to the innovative research of the MAC, including authorship on papers and assistance with writing of grant proposals. Performs other duties as assigned.
The SRA will report to the HMI Executive Director with guidance from the HMI Director, Dr. Lars Bode.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Advanced theoretical knowledge of biochemistry, biology, molecular biology or nutrition science as typically attained by an advanced degree.
Proven ability to perform scientific procedures including mass spec (specifically, ICP-MS), molecular biology techniques, immunoassays, blotting, HPLC.
Demonstrated experience with biospecimen processing and analysis.
Proven experience of sample preparation of for analysis of macromolecules, micromolecules, and bioactives in liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, data acquisition, and interpretation of mass spectra using different bioinformatic tools.
Demonstrated experience in high-throughput screening and proteomic/peptidomic analyses.
Demonstrated experience analyzing research projects,
Connections working at University of California San DiegoUC San Diego is an academic powerhouse and economic engine, recognized as one of the top 8 public universities by U.S. News and World Report. Innovation is central to who we are and what we do. Here, students learn that knowledge isn't just acquired in the classroom - life is their laboratory. UC San Diego's rich academic portfolio includes six undergraduate colleges, five academic divisions and five graduate and professional schools. The university's award-winning scholars are experts at the forefront of their fields with an impressive track record for achieving scientific, medical and technological breakthroughs.
