The Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology – Oncology is looking to fill a Biological Scientist III position.This position is created to work in a research laboratory with special emphasis on epigenetic mechanisms in cancer; perform research laboratory assays on patient specimens as part of core laboratory function for clinical trial networks; laboratory management to include maintaining sufficient inventory of materials, supplies and equipment for efficient laboratory performance; and assist in developing operating budgets.

Duties include:

• Performing scientific experiments with a focus on uveal melanoma and a CRISPR based screen to determine susceptibilities of these tumors to gene ablation in cell system with or without key mutations relevant to uveal melanoma.
• Duties will also focus on genome wide patterns of chromatin accessibility and looping in response to GNAQ, Ras and other oncogenes in the contacts of loss of chromatin regulators such as Bap1, KMT2D and KMT2C.

• Experimental duties will include but not be limited to, using molecular biology techniques such as cell culture, western blotting, Chromatin immunoprecipitation, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and next generation sequencing (RNA-seq, ChIP-seq) to test how structural and functional mutations in proteins that regulate chromatin structure may alter gene expression and promote the tumor phenotype.
• Assist with training of junior lab technician staff and oversee laboratory processes.

• Additional duties associated with the position include performing experiments in mice and assisting in the maintenance of the lab’s animal colony and occasional lab maintenance/housekeeping/ordering.
• Communicate with the principal investigator and laboratory technicians regarding ongoing processes of the laboratory and the progress being made on such processes.
• Perform research experiments to advance research in the laboratory.
• Maintain an adequate research supply and reagent inventory, reordering such supplies as needed, and justifying laboratory equipment requests

• Perform statistical analysis on results and prepare data for publication. Prepare reports on research findings.

• Individual will be responsible for the preventative maintenance on laboratory as required and other duties as assigned.

$48,000 – $52,000

Doctoral degree in biology or a closely related field and two years of relevant experience; or a master’s degree in biology or a closely related field and five years of relevant experience; or a bachelor’s degree in biology or a closely related field and seven years of relevant experience.

This position is available for current UF employees only.

Doctoral degree in biology or a closely related field and two years of experience in the field or in a related area; or master’s degree in biology or a closely related field and five years of experience in the field or in a related area; or bachelor’s degree in biology or a closely related field and seven years of experience in the field or in a related area.

The incumbent must have good communication skills and be able to work well with colleagues, representatives of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and be able to seek information as needed when future experiments require special abilities or experience found only outside of the university.