Research Assistant III - Neurosurgery

Join to apply for the Research Assistant III - Neurosurgery role at UTHealth Houston
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The position is in the Department of Neurosurgery  is in the laboratory of Dr. Nitin Tandon, who is engaged in neurophysiology, neuroimaging, and genetic projects on epilepsy and brain tumors. This individual will assist Dr. Tandon and his lab with epilepsy and brain tumor related data collection, analysis and manuscript production.

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’ resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care.

Once you join us you won't want to leave. We reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization plus:

• 100% paid medical premiums for full-time employees
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave day, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year)
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue!
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service)
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan!
• Free financial and legal counseling
• Free mental health counseling services
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc.
• Resources for child and elder care
• Plus many more!

Under close direction of senior research staff, conducts activities to support research projects. The candidate will be responsible for collecting various biological samples from patient populations, including tissue, blood, stool and CSF. They will also use the lab’s expertise in multimodal approaches – fMRI, lesional analysis following epilepsy surgery, intracranial recordings and direct stimulation – to analyze surgical outcomes and to create and validate network level representations of language.

The candidate will contribute to the research currently underway in the lab through data analysis using various computer-based software programs and will gain knowledge in the fields of reading, semantics, speech production and computational neuroscience.

The candidate is expected to be highly motivated, a team player with a passion to study epilepsy and tumor conditions as well as cognitive processes using data collected by various modalities available in the lab. Given the multiple unpredictable variables and privacy issues around data collection in human patients, the individual must possess high ethical and professional standards.

• Under close supervision, conduct research activities according to protocol. Activities may include obtaining consent, data collection, data entry, traditional laboratory experiments, maintaining accurate records and databases, programming and informatics.
• Maintain a clean laboratory equipment and/or work area to ensure a safe and efficient work environment.
• Evaluate and interpret research data to provide needed information to principal investigators and other researchers. Update notebooks, records, and databases as needed.
• Stay abreast of new and updated protocols for the research department.
• Comply with all governmental and University policies, rules, regulations, and codes.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Undergraduate degree in one or more of the following: medicine, neuroscience, psychology, cognitive science, mathematics, electrical engineering or computer science. Previous experience with programming in languages such as Matlab and Python is desirable – but not crucial.

Bachelor’s degree in appropriate field of science or relevant experience in lieu of education.

Two (2) years of related experience in a research or clinical lab environment. May substitute required experience with equivalent years of education beyond the minimum education requirement.

Exerts up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and/or up to 10 pounds constantly and/or a negligible amount constantly to move objects.

This job class may contain positions that are security sensitive and thereby subject to the provisions of Texas Education Code.

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