Research Associate - Specimen Preparation & Imaging Support

vVARDIS is a Swiss-based oral health company founded by Dr. Haley and Dr. Goly Abivardi, dentists, innovators, and award-winning entrepreneurs. vVARDIS is the result of a combined 30 years of dental and entrepreneurial experience, and 20 years of laboratory and clinical research paired with the creative vision of its founders. At vVARDIS, we are committed to delivering innovative solutions that enhance oral health and well-being, inspired by the vision of our founders to foster preventive rather than reparative dentistry.

Scientifically proven in over 200 publications, our unique technology can treat early caries, offering a noninvasive, pain-free solution for patients of all ages. We offer a number of oral health products targeting dental professionals and their patients, as well as consumers, all based on our proprietary technology. We value our people and believe in fostering a positive and collaborative work environment, based on our core values of innovation, excellence, integrity, and empathy.

We are located in Zug, Switzerland, with operations in Europe and the U.S. Join us on this exciting journey!

As a Research Associate in our Michigan dental materials laboratory, you will be a core member of a small, hands-on R&D team. This newly established lab provides in-house in vitro remineralization testing and biomaterials characterization. Reporting to the Lab Director, you will prepare reagents and tooth specimens, run tests under established protocols, prepare imaging-ready specimens, and operate and maintain laboratory instruments, assisting with advanced characterization on shared instrumentation at the University of Michigan campus and on site at our lab in Plymouth, Michigan.

You will become the lab's most reliable pair of hands for sectioning, embedding, grinding, polishing, and mounting mineralized specimens, and you will be trained to run our in-house micro-CT — scan setup, reconstruction, and first-pass analysis — as a core part of the job.

You will work within a small team environment helping translate vVARDIS's proprietary peptide and remineralization technology from concept to reality.

• Perform in vitro remineralization testing on enamel and dentin under established protocols, including setting up controlled demineralization/remineralization challenges and mineral-uptake, surface, and cross-sectional measurements.
• Prepare reagents and solutions (artificial saliva, demineralizing and remineralizing solutions) and follow standard operating procedures accurately, ensuring reproducibility.
• Prepare hard-tissue and material specimens to imaging-ready quality — sectioning, embedding in resin, mounting, grinding, and polishing — to a consistent, documented standard.
• Train on and then routinely operate MicroCT: specimen mounting, scan setup and parameter selection, reconstruction, and first-pass segmentation and measurement, with support from the scientific staff.
• Operate and maintain laboratory instruments and assist with — and, once trained, independently perform — advanced characterization (e.g., SEM, EDS, MicroCT) on shared instrumentation at the University of Michigan campus.
• Carry out routine data collection and recording, organize and document results, maintain specimen and scan inventories, and support data summaries for internal R&D and the parent-company team.
• Contribute to laboratory quality and safety, including SDS and chemical management, instrument upkeep, and maintaining a clean, organized, and compliant work area.

• B.S. or M.S. in materials science, chemistry, biomedical engineering, or a related field, and 3+ years of relevant hands-on work experience in a laboratory environment. (Strong candidates with less experience but…