Kheirbek Lab – Junior Specialist Positions Full-time

Kheirbek Lab – Junior Specialist Positions

The Kheirbek Lab in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF is seeking to hire two Junior Specialists. Our research focuses on defining the neural circuits and cellular mechanisms that generate emotional behavior, including anxiety, stress susceptibility, and adaptive learning. The successful candidates will support core laboratory operations and ongoing research projects.

Responsibilities will include general laboratory work, adherence to animal care and chemical safety regulations, mouse colony maintenance, and immunohistochemical processing and analysis of brain tissue. Candidates will also assist with behavioral experiments and systems neuroscience approaches in awake, behaving mice, including chemogenetic and optogenetic manipulations, calcium imaging, and electrophysiology. Duties will span the full experimental pipeline, including mouse generation and genotyping, preparation of reagents and equipment, construction and surgical implantation of optical cannulas and related hardware, behavioral testing, recording, and basic data processing and analysis.

We are especially interested in candidates who are highly motivated, detail-oriented, and able to work effectively both as part of a team and independently with strong problem-solving skills. The selected candidates will have the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to active projects and to earn co-authorship on peer-reviewed publications.

Required Qualifications: • A baccalaureate degree (or equivalent degree) in biology or a related discipline, or at least four years of research experience. • Experience working in a research laboratory is a prerequisite.

Applicants must apply online, with a CV and the contact information for 2 references. Applicants' materials must list pending qualifications. Candidates must have required qualifications by the start date.

See Table 24B for the salary range for this position. A reasonable estimate for this position is $55,000 – $58,600.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

UCSF is committed to welcoming and serving all people, honoring the dignity of every individual without preference or prejudice, in support of its public mission and in alignment with its PRIDE values and Principles of Community.

Job location: San Francisco, CA