Staff Scientist, Kwok Lab Full-time

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) has a bold mission: Predict, prevent, reverse and cure immune system diseases, from autoimmune disease to cancer to COVID-19. We examine the immune system in both health and disease to understand how disorders start and how to rebalance the immune system back to health. Equipped with innovative tools and robust biorepositories, our team chips away at the biggest mysteries behind these conditions to work toward our vision of a healthy immune system for all. As an independent non-profit organization within Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, we collaborate with clinicians to accelerate the path from innovative lab discoveries to life-changing patient care.

At BRI, each role is valued and an important contributor to the vision and mission. BRI is committed to a safe, caring and diverse workplace; as well as to taking action to further our commitments to foster inclusion, equity and belonging so employees feel comfortable bringing their full selves to work. Consider making a difference, join our team. Because together, we are Powering Possibility.

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Overview:

The Kwok Lab uses class II MHC multimer reagents and other state of art technologies, including single cell RNAseq experiments in examining antigen specific CD4+ T Cells in infectious diseases, peanut allergy, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

Responsibilities:

• Lead experiments in producing soluble MHC multimer reagents, including construct design and protein purification
• Lead experiments in using MHC multimer reagents in examining epitope specific T cells
• Carry out bench work experiments, including cell culture, flow cytometry assays and be responsible for checking and validating the results in each field of activity.
• Implement adequate experimental protocols and, if necessary, the experiments required to solve the possible technical problems within study deadlines.
• Provide guidance to research technicians in producing and utilizing MHC multimer reagents
• Present results or summary of results to the project team or to other audiences as needed
• Write required documents such as experimental procedures, research articles and study reports.
• Provide oversight/ supervision of technicians or graduate students within the context of these studies.

Qualifications:

• PhD Degree in Immunology/Biochemistry or similar discipline with more than 4 years of postdoctoral experience.
• Experience in expression construct design, protein purification from mammalian cells and working with T cells.
• Specific specialization on human T and/or B cell immunology is required. Previous experience with MHC multimer staining, RNAseq, or knowledge in bioinformatics is a plus.
• Significant experience in multi-parameter flow cytometry, and in design/set up of cell based assays. Additional expertise in other laboratory techniques related to molecular biology and biochemistry research will also be considered.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with good organizational and analytical abilities.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, disability or protected veteran status.

Tagged as: Life Sciences