Visiting Researcher

Overview

New Jersey's academic health center, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) takes an integrated approach to educating students, providing clinical care, and conducting research, all with the goal of improving human health. Aligned with Rutgers University‑New Brunswick and collaborating university‑wide, RBHS includes eight schools, a behavioral health network, and five centers and institutes that focus on cancer treatment and research, neuroscience, advanced biotechnology and medicine, environmental and occupational health, and health care policy and aging research.

Our faculty are teachers, clinicians, and scientists with unparalleled experience who advance medical innovation and provide patient care informed by the latest research findings. We offer an outstanding education in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, nursing, biomedical research, and the full spectrum of allied health careers.

Our clinical and academic facilities are located throughout the state at Rutgers University‑New Brunswick, including Piscataway; and at locations in Newark, Scotch Plains, Somerset, Stratford, and other locations. Clinical partners include Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and Newark's University Hospital.

Through this community of healers, scientists, and scholars, Rutgers is equipped as never before to transform lives.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is seeking a Visiting Researcher (VR) for the Child Health Institute of NJ at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Under the direction of Dr. Chiara Manzini (PI), the VR will be responsible for the performance and analysis of experiments focused on investigating how sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone) establish sex‑specific behavioral and signaling deficits following loss of the CC2D1A gene, which is mutated in human Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability. The project is part of a larger effort in the lab that focuses on identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying sex bias in ASD and related neurodevelopmental disorders.

The VR is expected to have expertise in conducting and analyzing scientific experiments involving rodent models and basic molecular biology approaches, and to have a broad college‑level knowledge of biochemistry, cell biology, and neurobiology. Responsibilities include maintenance and genotyping of the mouse colony, behavioral testing, molecular analysis of intracellular signaling pathways, and hormonal interventions following adult gonadectomy. The VR will participate in lab meetings, seminars, and scientific presentations, assist the PI in preparing manuscripts and grant applications, provide student instruction and training, and manage daily lab functions.

As part of career development, the VR will be trained to improve experimental design skills and oral and written presentation skills.

• Perform and analyze experiments to define how gonadal hormones affect intracellular signaling in the brain of male and female mice and how these differences affect behavior.
• Conduct animal husbandry and genotyping on the mouse colony to generate the experimental animals needed, monitor animal health, and follow all animal protocol rules and regulations.
• Assist the Principal Investigator with lab organization and ordering lab supplies; submit purchase recommendations of equipment and supplies to the PI.
• Compile and analyze data with appropriate statistical analysis, drawing conclusions and proposing future directions in support of CHI research.
• Adhere to established performance standards and coordinate instrumentation and experimental approaches in support of CHI research.
• Maintain clear and detailed records of procedures and experiments in accordance with laboratory guidelines; keep data in shared and readily accessible locations. Communicate and present data to the PI and other lab members in a timely manner.

• Minimum Education:
  
  B.S. degree.
• Familiarity with rodent handling procedures in a research laboratory setting.
• Effective oral and written communication skills.
• Computer literate with proficiency in database and reporting…