Research Technician

Education
High School Diploma or Equivalent required and Bachelor's Degree in Biology preferred

Can this role accept experience in lieu of a degree?
Yes

Licenses and Credentials

Experience
Prior laboratory experience, either through academic coursework, internships, or employment. 1-2 years preferred

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Strong theoretical and practical knowledge of laboratory techniques and procedures.
- Familiarity with common laboratory equipment and instruments used in research experiments.
- Proficiency in data collection, analysis, and scientific software tools.
- Excellent attention to detail, organizational skills, and the ability to multitask and prioritize tasks effectively.
- Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to troubleshoot technical issues.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively convey experimental procedures, results, and challenges.

The Rivera laboratory is part of the MGH Pathology Department and MGH Cancer Center and we are also affiliated with the Broad Institute. Our work is focused on using genomic technologies to identify and characterize abnormal gene regulation pathways that drive cancer cells and new approaches to modulate them. Our studies involve the integration of biochemistry, cell biology and genome-wide profiling of chromatin and transcriptional states (such as ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, Hi-ChIP and HiC). Using these approaches, our laboratory has uncovered gene regulation networks and new mechanisms of chromatin regulation in a variety of tumor types, including medulloblastoma (Boulay et al, Cancer Discovery 2017) and Ewing sarcoma (Riggi et al, Cancer Cell 2014; Boulay et al, Cell 2017). We have also developed new technologies to study chromatin states associated with repetitive elements and disordered proteins (Tak et al, Cell Genomics 2022; Xing et al, Nature Biotechnology 2023. Research technicians will join a collaborative group of scientists working on cutting edge research.

As members of the team, research technicians are expected to work closely with postdoctoral fellows and contribute experimentally to one or several research projects in the laboratory. Contributions will include: setting up and performing experiments, assisting with hypothesis generation, experimental design and data interpretation. Common assays include western blotting, qPCR, cloning, RNA/DNA isolation, genomic assays (e.g. ChIP-seq, RNA-seq), lentivirus production, general mammalian cell culture, compound screening.