Research Assistant 4

Case Western Reserve University is committed to providing a transparent estimate of the salary range available for this position at the time of its posting. The salary range is between $52,705 and $66,672, depending on qualifications, experience, department budgets, and industry data. Employees receive more than just a paycheck. University employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare, retirement plans, tuition assistance, paid time off, and a winter recess.

Working with a high degree of independence and under general direction, the Research Assistant 4 will coordinate major research activities in support of laboratory studies focused on multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. This position leads and executes research projects aimed at augmenting immune responses against cancer cells by designing and performing laboratory experiments, conducting complex data analysis, and contributing to scientific interpretation and dissemination of findings.

The role functions as a key technical and organizational resource for the laboratory, working closely with the principal investigator and lab staff to develop study procedures, maintain and improve laboratory operations, and advance ongoing research objectives through high-quality, timely experimental work. This position will work with animals.

• Provide scientific input to principal investigator and project leadership regarding significant developments in research projects, including interpretation of complex experimental data, identification of technical or biological issues, and proposal of next-step experiments for myeloma and immunotherapy studies. Contribute to study design (e.g., dosing schemes, time-course experiments, panel design for flow cytometry) and assist in prioritizing experiments to meet project milestones. (20%)
• Coordinate major laboratory and research activities, including planning and scheduling of in vitro and in vivo experiments, organizing shared use of tissue culture and flow cytometry equipment, and ensuring that required reagents, animals, and instruments are available for ongoing projects. Maintain and improve standard operating procedures for cell culture, viral transduction, drug treatment, and sample processing to support reproducible, high-quality data generation.
  
  (20%)
• Supervise and mentor research staff and trainees. Provide functional oversight for students and trainees working on related projects. Assign and review experimental tasks, monitor adherence to protocols and safety guidelines, provide ongoing performance feedback, and support professional development through coaching in experimental design, troubleshooting, and data presentation. (20%)
• Co-author research projects by contributing to experimental design, data generation, and interpretation, and by drafting or revising sections of manuscripts, abstracts, posters, and presentations. Assist the principal investigator with preparation of figures, methods, and preliminary data for grant applications focused on multiple myeloma and immune-oncology, and present data at internal meetings and, when appropriate, external conferences. (15%)
• Perform the most complex quantitative and analytical procedures, including multi-parameter flow cytometry analysis, densitometric and quantitative western blot analysis, and integration of cell viability, phenotypic, and functional readouts across experiments. Utilize software such as Graph Pad Prism and R to perform statistical analyses, generate publication-quality plots, and support robust data interpretation. (15%)
• Teach and instruct others in research techniques relevant to multiple myeloma and immunology, including aseptic cell culture, lentiviral transduction, in vivo dosing and monitoring, flow cytometry staining and acquisition, and protein extraction and western blotting. Develop training materials and demonstrate best practices in experimental setup, record-keeping, and data analysis to ensure consistency across the lab. (10%)

• Develop and refine laboratory procedures, incorporating new methods and technologies as appropriate (e.g.,…