Cell Line Laboratory Support

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

Salary: $23.37 per hour.

Travel: No travel is required.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated education and/or experience in cell culture, creation and analysis of knockout pools with Crispr-Cas9, RT-qPCR, Western analysis, chemical exposure of cells, carrying out studies in which rodents are treated with chemicals or mixtures;
• Strong written, oral, and electronic communication skills; and
• Proficient in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Desired Skills:

• Experience using R language.

Qualifications

• Be at least 18 years of age and
• Have earned at least a BA/BS degree in one of the following fields: biology, chemistry, toxicology, pharmacology, environmental science, or a related field 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.

What the EPA project is about

EPA's Center for Computational Toxicology and Exposure (CCTE) coordinates the High Throughput Toxicology (HTT) Research Program, which is part of EPA's broader Chemical Safety for Sustainability (CSS) Strategic Research Action Plan. Information and methods are needed to make better-informed, more-timely decisions about chemicals. The EPA’s HTT research program within CSS is designed to meet this challenge. Current chemical testing is expensive and time consuming. Only a small fraction of chemicals have been fully evaluated for potential adverse human health effects. CCTE is working to determine how to change the current approaches used to evaluate the safety of chemicals. CCTE research integrates advances in biology, biotechnology, chemistry, and computer science. Automated chemical screening technologies (called “high-throughput screening assays”) and informatics are being used to screen thousands of chemicals and identify important biological processes that may be disrupted by chemicals. Mathematical and advanced computer models are being developed to trace those disruptions to a related dose and human exposure and help link perturbations in biological processes to adverse health impacts. The combined information helps prioritize chemicals based on potential human health risks. Using HTT testing and computational methods, thousands of chemicals can be evaluated more quickly for potential risk at a reduced cost while also limiting the number of laboratory animal-based tests.

This is an excellent opportunity for a recent bachelor’s graduate to collaborate with EPA’s research team. Research experience includes:

• Maintaining cell lines;
• Assist in building and characterizing gene expression biomarkers;
• Presenting work in lab meetings and at scientific conferences; and
• Networking and exploring many career paths at EPA.

Interested in this research opportunity? If so, follow the link below to apply. Questions? Email EPANSSC@ORAU.org